


The Lab Assistant: Family Secrets

by Kihonne



Series: Heroes in the Making: An Elite Force [3]
Category: Lab Rats (TV 2012)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Bionic Superhumans, F/M, Family, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Season/Series 02, Slow Burn, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-06
Updated: 2014-04-06
Packaged: 2020-01-05 20:34:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 77,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18373595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kihonne/pseuds/Kihonne
Summary: New kid Marcus gives Leo Dooley the creeps. Whatever Marcus is up to, it's no good. The problem is, the only person who seems to believe him is Calla Parker, his step-dad's lab assistant. Together, they must find a way to prove to the others that Marcus is not their friend. Based off of the original episodes of Lab Rats: Season Two, but will include other stuff as well.





	1. Speed Trapped

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own lab rats, or anything from the original TV show. I only own this story, Calla, Jaden, any other OCs present, and anything else you don't recognize.

** Chase's POV **

"Morning!" Calla called, skipping into the lab as we all got ready for school. I smiled at her.

"Are you excited?" I questioned. She frowned.

"For what?" she asked, sitting down next to me.

"Tonight's the night!" I grinned excitedly. "The frozen yogurt shop is FINALLY opening."

"Oh yeah. I forgot." Calla replied. I stared at her.

"Forgot?" I repeated. "They have fifty-two flavours, four of which are sugar free! How could you forget?"

"Because I don't like anything sugar free." She told me, a smile on her face. "I mean, come on, sugar is like the best thing ever. Why would they purposely make something without sugar in it?"

"Really?" I smirked, rolling my eyes. "Isn't that a little over the top?" I questioned. She gave me a look.

"' _They have fifty-two flavours, four of which are sugar free!'_ " she mocked in her 'guy' voice, which was just an octave lower than her own. "Isn't  _that_  a little over the top?"

"Hey, it is-" I was cut off by Leo and Bree's conversation.

"Aren't they cute when they're flirting?" Bree asked. Leo shook his head.

"More like disgusting. Get a room, nerds!" he told us, pointing towards the elevator.

"We're not flirting, Leo." I told him. He obviously didn't believe me, but dropped it because Adam came walking over to us, wearing a large green jacket.

"I've heard about those yogurt places. They get you by charging extra for toppings. So, I'm bringing my own." He opened up his jacket to reveal that it was full of sugary toppings, from gummy-bears to chocolate sprinkles.

"Impressive." Calla nodded. Adam grinned.

"You don't even want to know what's in my pants." He hit his pockets and gasped. At the same time, I heard an odd squishing sound. "Oh! Hot butterscotch!"

Calla and I burst out laughing. Bree rolled her eyes. "I can't wait to go to the grand opening." She said. Mr. Davenport walked over.

"Sorry, but you guys are coming home straight after school. So no flavours, no toppings, no hanging with the bros, peeps or homies."

We all looked at him, suddenly reminded of how old he was. "Bros, peeps, and homies?" Bree repeated. "Don't. Just, no."

Leo frowned at Mr. Davenport. "What's got you so grouchy? They run out of human footstools at the rich guy club?"

"Did you forget that your little buddy Marcus found the lab yesterday?" he reminded them. Leo crossed his arms.

"I thought it was clear. He is NOT my 'little buddy'." Calla nodded.

"Yeah, I don't like him either, so this is all on them." She gestured to me and my siblings. I rolled my eyes; Calla would get over her dislike of Marcus eventually. I hoped. Actually, knowing her, she would probably despise the guy forever.

"He could have discovered our bionic secret!" Mr. Davenport exclaimed.

"I blame Eddy!" Calla called out. We all turned to her. "What? He's a horrible AI and security system."

"Agreed." We all said in unison. Mr. Davenport shook his head.

"Look, it doesn't matter whose fault it was." Mr. Davenport said. "Although,  _two certain people_  were supposed to be watching him."

"Yeah well  _someone_  pulled Leo and Calla away." Leo told him.

"And that  _someone_  is the reason Marcus was able to roam free." Calla added. Adam looked at them.

"Guys, I think you're talking about each other." He said. We all ignored him.

"Point is," Mr. Davenport continued. "I am keeping a tighter leash on the three of you. And Calla, Leo, because I'm not always going to be there, you both are going to need to step it up a notch."

Leo nodded. "Sure thing Big D. We may have let one goon slip through the cracks, but I won't let anymore Marcus-es get through. Just call us the 'Enforcers'." Calla looked at him, then at Mr. Davenport.

"Um, I'll keep an eye on them and all, but I refuse to be called an 'Enforcer'." She made it very clear that she disliked the name. Mr. Davenport smirked.

"Alright." He looked like he was going to say more, but his vibrating phone stopped him. He grinned happily and walked out the back door. "This is important!" he called over his shoulder.

Leo stood up, and started acting like he was king of the world. "The hammer is down people." He pointed at Bree, "No more talking to boys." he turned to Adam, "No more talking to girls." He ended with me, "No more helping old ladies to their cars."

"It was your grandmother!" I exclaimed. Leo got in his face.

"Trust no one." He hissed. Calla grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him away.

"How much sugar did you have in your cereal today Leo?" She questioned. He was about to answer when we heard a girly scream of joy from the garage. Mr. Davenport came in, jumping for joy like a dog in a meat factory.

"It's here! It's here! It's here, it's here, it's HERE!" he squealed. We all stared at him.

"What?" Bree demanded. "What is it?"

"Well, I hope it's a big box of masculinity because I never want to see THAT again." Calla commented.

"Just come here!" Davenport led us all to the garage so we could see what he was so excited about and I have to say, it was pretty cool. It was a sleek, silver car.

"Meet the world's first self-driving car, designed by yours truly." Mr. Davenport announced.

"I helped, just in case anyone was wondering." Calla said to us, but everyone else ignored her.

"It's amazing." I told her. She smiled at me.

"Yep, just when you thought I couldn't get more awesome, BOOM! I got more awesome!" Mr. Davenport exclaimed.

"And BOOM! I still want to be dropped off a block away from school." Bree told him. Leo looked at Mr. Davenport.

"So, how does this thing drive itself?" he asked. Mr. Davenport gestured to the black panel on top of the car.

"See this panel? It receives a satellite signal and sends all the pertinent information into the car's onboard computer and voila, it drives itself."

We all stared at him in awe. "Oh, and did I mention that this thing goes 200 miles an hour? No, that's because it goes 300!"

"Oh, check out the computer! I at least made sure that was in the plans." Calla exclaimed. Mr. Davenport hit a button on his keys, and the car activated.

" _Good evening Donald. Would you like to take a ride?"_  the car's computer asked. Leo nodded approvingly at Calla.

"She sounds classy." He commented. Calla smirked.

"Why thank you. It was my idea." She replied as Tasha walked into the room.

"Guys? What are you doing? You're gonna be late!" she scolded. "Go, go, go, go, go!"

We all ran out, grabbing bags as we left. I think we all grabbed the wrong one, but seeing as Tasha was right and we barely got inside the school as the bell was ringing, we didn't care. We could exchange them later.

** Calla's POV **

"Okay, who's got my bag?" I demanded, walking over the bench where Adam, Bree, Chase, and Leo were sitting. Somehow, I ended up with Adam's candy and food filled bad instead of my own. In a totally unrelated note, I got an uneaten burrito, four Kit-Kat bars, and a Pepsi for free.

"Here." Leo handed my bag to me. "I got yours, Bree got mine, Adam got Chase's, and Chase got Bree's."

"You know what I don't get?" Bree asked. "Our bags don't even look the same."

"Well, we were all in a hurry." I said, and then smiled. Adam was trying to flirt with Jessica, and it was really cute. If I had my way, they'd be going to prom together.

"Hey Jessica, I love what you've done with your hair." Said blonde had braided it Katniss style for picture day. She smiled at him, but Leo pushed the two apart.

"Sorry Jessie, Adam can't talk right now. He's got a horrible disease. You'd better run before his flesh starts eating itself." He told her cheerfully. Jessica looked at him, then Adam, then walked away. Adam sighed and sat down besides me.

"Leo," I said calmly. "I think you're taking this 'Enforcer' thing a little too far."

He looked at me like I was crazy. "I have no idea what you're talking about." Jaden went to walk by Bree on his way to the cafeteria, but Leo stopped him and pulled out a handheld metal detector. He checked Jaden with it, then satisfied that he posed no threat, let him go. My brother gave me a confused look as he walked away.

"Really?" I gestured at the metal detector. "Really?"

"Hey guys, what's up?" I turned to see Marcus walk up to us. Leo raised an eyebrow at me, as if he was wondering if I would object to him checking Marcus with the metal detector.

"I'll tell you what's up, your time here." Leo told him. I smirked.

"Yeah, beat it, Eyebrows." I pointed to the open door. Marcus ignored us.

"You two are silly." Marcus laughed. Then he turned to the lab rats. "Are you guys excited about the new frozen yogurt shop? They're giving out unlimited toppings. Principal Perry's been camped out for a week." The whole time, Leo and I were telling them to make him leave.

"Unlimited toppings?" Adam repeated. "Someone could have told me that before I filled my socks with gummy bears!"

"Stranger danger." Leo murmured to the others. They ignored him.

"Sorry Marcus," Chase apologized. "But we can't go."

"We have chores." Bree lied. Adam shook his head.

"No, we have an uptight dad that's afraid we'll reveal our secret…" Adam saw the look we were all giving him. "…recipe. For chilli! That works, let's go!"

We all bolted out of the school, the bell ringing behind us.

** Chase's POV **

"I can't believe Calla went without us." I complained. Bree looked at me.

"Well, it IS the biggest social event of the year. Everyone is checking it out. Even Susie Renalds and she's lactose intolerant!" she exclaimed as Mr. Davenport walked in.

"Guys, I need your help to make Tasha's dinner tonight extra special." He said seriously. Adam nodded.

"Of course, what can we do?" he asked. Mr. Davenport drew us close.

"Stay far, far away." He told us, laughing as he walked back upstairs. My phone vibrated and I saw that I got a text from Marcus.

** Text from: Marcus **

** Dude! You're missing out! Principal Perry is shot gunning tooty-fruity right out of the dispenser! You have to come hang out! But don't bring Leo. Calla's already here and there's enough hate in the atmosphere as it is. **

"Oh, come on! This is so unfair." I complained, showing Adam and Bree the text. "I knew we should have gone to the grand opening with Marcus or Calla!"

"Well, then let's just go!" Bree exclaimed.

"We can't." I reminded her. "Mr. Davenport wants us here."

Adam grinned sneakily. "No, Mr. Davenport wants us far, far away and the yogurt shop IS far, far away."

I looked at him in amazement. He just had a good idea. I hadn't known that was possible. "Your razor thin logic works for me!" I agreed as we started to go.

"Wait, what about Leo?" Bree asked. I frowned.

"Marcus said not to invite him and he's right." I replied. "We just have to be quick."

"And do you know what else is quick?" Adam gasped, getting another idea. "Davenport's car."

"Are you crazy?" I demanded. "Mr. Davenport would kill us if he knew we drove his car."

"But we wouldn't be driving it; it drives itself. BOOM!" Bree exclaimed.

"Can't argue with that!" Adam told me. I shrugged, and followed them to the garage. Adam hopped into the driver's seat, me into the shotgun seat, and Bree into the back. I inputted the correct location and we drove off to meet Marcus.

** Xxx **

"Hey Marcus!" Adam yelled out the window. Marcus looked up from his phone and grinned.

"Sweet car!" he exclaimed as we pulled over in front of the yogurt shop. We got out and he took a look inside. "Where'd you get it?"

"It's Mr. Davenport…I mean, our dad's new self driving car." I explained. "You just say any destination and it automatically takes you there."

"Yet no matter how many times I tell it 'take me to a better life', here I am." Bree joked. Marcus grinned, then looked at the line. There were at least twenty people waiting for their frozen yogurt.

"You know guys, the line looks pretty long. Why don't we just cruise this thing over to my place?" he suggested. A voice from behind us stopped me from answering.

"Leo! I found them!" Calla ran up to us, carrying a tray with five frozen yogurt cones on it. "What are you doing here?"

"What's with the yogurt?" I questioned. "Don't tell me you were going to eat all of it by yourself."

"What? Of course not!" she snapped. "I was bringing you guys back some. And you never answered my question. What are you guys doing here?"

Leo ran up behind her, winded and gasping for breath as if he'd recently run a marathon. He and Marcus glared at each other for a second, then he turned to us. "Eddy told me you guys snuck out. You're all coming with me." He ordered.

"No we're not." Bree found it amusing that Leo was telling us what to do.

"Oh yes, you are." Leo argued. I crossed my arms.

"You can't tell us what to do." I replied. Calla looked at me disapprovingly.

"Look, you guys really shouldn't have snuck out." She told me.

"Stay out of this Calla. You're not our babysitter." Adam snapped at her. We all started arguing then. Eventually, Marcus decided to break up the fight. He pushed us all apart, accidently knocking Calla's tray to the ground.

"Sorry." He apologized, then looked at us. "Look, maybe they're right. I don't want you to get in trouble. Maybe you should go home. But at least get some yogurt before you go. Err…" he looked down at the splatter of yogurt on the ground. "New yogurt anyway. I'll even pay and I'll watch the car."

He handed Calla a twenty dollar bill. She gave it to me. "I lost my appetite." She replied shortly. I shrugged. Adam, Bree, and I went to buy some more frozen yogurt while Calla and Leo stayed behind, evidently not trusting Marcus enough to watch the car.

** Calla's POV **

Marcus was up to something. Man, I sounded like Leo when I thought that, but it was true. He was probably going to steal the car or something. I handed Chase the twenty Marcus gave me.

"I lost my appetite." I told him. He shrugged and went off with his siblings, leaving me and Leo alone with Marcus.

"Hey! Get away from there!" Leo snapped as Marcus opened the car door. He pushed Marcus out of the way and sat in the front seat. Marcus ran to the other side and opened the passenger door before Leo could even close his.

"What do you think you're doing?" I demanded. He frowned, fake confusion on his face.

"Aren't you getting in? You might not like me, but I do have manners. It's polite to open a car door for girls." I stared at him, not sure how to reply, then got in and slammed my door. Leo shut his as Marcus backed away.

Our seat belts strapped us in automatically when the door closed and the computer turned on.  _"Door closed. Acquiring fastest route to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean."_

Leo and I both stopped and looked at each other. "Did that just say…" "Bottom of the what?" we both demanded. We started tugging on our seat belts and door handles, but neither would budge. We were trapped. I saw Marcus watching and I banged on the window.

"Marcus!" I screamed, but didn't get a chance to finish the sentence as the car sped away, going 300 miles per hour.

"What is going on?!" Leo shouted. I winced at the loudness in his voice.

"Calm down. Chase or someone probably was talking about oceans or something when they were in the car last, and it picked up on it." I tried to stay as calm as possible. I hit a couple of buttons that I knew would activate the brakes. Nothing happened. I hit them again.

" _Manual braking can not be activated at this time_." The computer told us. I looked at Leo.

"That might be a problem." I admitted. I tried a second code, the backup code as I liked to call it.

" _Your final destination is the bottom of the Pacific Ocean and can not be overridden."_  The computer told us.  _"Would you like to hear some music until we arrive?"_

"No!" "Country!" Leo and I both stared at each other. Stupid music hater.

" _You said Disco."_  The computer started playing the worst music to have ever lived and Leo started freaking out.

"What do we do?" he exclaimed. I took a deep, shaky breath. This was not at all how I imagined my Friday night going. My plan was to get some fro-yo for me, Bree, and the boys, then hang out in the lab all night. Not go for a midnight swim in the Pacific Ocean.

"Get Chase, or one of the others on the phone." I ordered. "They might have an idea."

"Good idea." Leo pulled out his phone while I tried every emergency code I could think of. By time he found one of them with a working phone (Chase's was dead and Adam had dropped his in the toilet…again), I was desperate enough to try 123456.

"Bree?" Leo gasped in relief. I spared him a glance.

"Speaker. Now." I ordered. He hit the button and I heard Bree's voice. She was midsentence.

"… _where are you guys?"_  she questioned.

"Oh, you know. In a car, speeding at three hundred miles to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean." I replied, trying a final code before giving up.

" _What?"_  Bree demanded.

"Do something or the next time you see us, we're going to be fish sticks!" Leo yelled.

" _OMG! Give me two seconds."_  Bree put the phone on hold. I looked at Leo.

"Fish sticks? Really?" I crossed my arms.

** Chase's POV **

"Guys, Calla and Leo are in trouble! We have to go help them." Bree, whom had walked off to take a phone call from Leo, ran over to us and grabbed our arms. "Sorry Marcus, but it's an emergency."

"What? You can't go yet. We haven't…taken a picture Fr0-Yo-A-Go-Go-Doe-Doe." That was officially the worst name for a mascot ever. Adam grinned anyway.

"Oh, right." He grabbed Bree's phone, having drowned his in the toilet for the third time this month, and took a picture of him, Marcus and the mascot. Bree grabbed him and pulled the two of us into the parking lot, leaving Marcus far behind.

"What's going on?" I demanded. "Are Calla and Leo alright?"

"Something must have gone wrong with the car." Bree told us. "They're heading towards the bottom of the Pacific Ocean."

"What?" "Cool!" Adam and I both yelled at the same time. I glared at him.

"No, not cool Adam!" I snapped. I held out my hand for the phone. "Let me talk to them."

Adam handed me the phone, and I took it off hold and put it on speaker phone.

"… _you have a problem with fish sticks?"_

" _No! I have a problem with becoming a fish stick, Calla!"_  Leo and Calla were arguing again. What a surprise. What was surprising was the disco music playing in the background.

"GUYS!" I yelled into the phone. They immediately stopped arguing.

" _Chase, thank God."_  Calla breathed a sigh of relief. _"I thought you were too busy hanging with Marcus."_

"Hey, I wouldn't leave you in danger like that!" I snapped at her. "And we'll talk about Marcus later. Are you two alright?"

" _Oh yeah, we're fine. Except for the fact that we're about to die, we're just peachy."_  Leo replied sarcastically. Adam grabbed the phone.

"Guys, the left pedal is called a break. Whoever's driving, take your foot and step on it!" he told them.

" _Don't you think I would have tried that already?"_ Leo retorted. Adam crossed his arms.

"Hey! If you can't be polite, then this conversation is over!" Adam went to hang up on them, but I pulled the phone out of his reach.

"Listen, I'll use Leo's cell signal to locate the car with my bionic GPS." I told them. I focused my bionic brain and tracked the signal. It was moving pretty fast, but I was easily able to figure out their route.

"Got them. 22nd street, then St. Mary's. Bree, use your super speed to catch up to the car and pull them out." I ordered. My sister nodded and blurred as she sped away. She came back a few minutes later, looking like hell. Neither Calla nor Leo was with her.

" _Leo! That is NOT the emergency break, you dumbass!"_  Calla was yelling at Leo so loud we could hear it, even with the phone in my pocket. Adam looked at Bree.

"What happened to you?" he asked.

"You know those signs that say 'deer crossing'? They don't lie." Bree looked at me hopelessly. "I don't know how we're going to stop that car."

"Well, don't you think the ocean's going to stop it?" Adam asked. I looked at him.

" _That's the problem Adam."_  Calla must have heard him or read my mind. Either way, she beat me to the punch.

"If the car is being driven by an internal computer system, maybe I can tap into it remotely and shut it down." I suggested. I lifted the phone to my ear. "Hang on guys; I'm going to try something."

I focused on the satellite again, this time sending down a signal I was sure would stop the car. Suddenly, the sound of a car horn burst from the phone.  _"Congratulations Chase, you've just completed the fourteen point maintenance checklist. All we need now is an oil change and we'll be good to go!"_  Calla shouted angrily. I groaned, searching desperately for an idea.

"Chase? Any more ideas?" Bree asked hopefully. I shook my head. I had no ideas that might work, but I didn't want Leo or Calla to hear that. They were both scared enough. Although Calla was panicking like Leo was, there was something in her voice that told me she was terrified.

"Well, I don't get why you guys don't just get out once the car's in the water." Adam said to the phone. "Wouldn't the water fry the computer and let you guys out?"

" _The water pressure wouldn't let us out until we hit the bottom of the ocean and by that time, we'd be long dead."_ Calla informed him. Bree frowned.

"How do you know that?" she questioned.

" _Well, I know the water pressure thing from Myth Busters and I know the part about being dead because I can only hold by breath under water for thirty seconds."_  She answered. Suddenly, I got an idea.

"Wait a second. What if I block the CPU's satellite signal? That would stop the car." I suggested. Bree looked at me just as I realized the flaws in my plan.

"Is your force field powerful enough?" She questioned.

"Well yeah." I replied. "But I would have to surround the entire car, which is miles away and moving fast. I could never throw that far."

"You can't." Adam agreed. "But I can!"

I looked at him. "Adam! That's brilliant! If I can calculate the distance, arc, and force necessary to launch, I can guide your arm and use your strength to hurl the fore field at the car."

"Ah." Adam grinned, for once understanding exactly what I meant. "So it's like a bionic bro combo. A bro-motion. A bro-tation. A super bionic bro-" "Just do it already!" Bree yelled at him.

" _Hurry!" "Less talk, more rescue!"_  Leo and Calla called to us. I looked at Adam.

"Okay, we only have one chance. Think of it like a basketball. We're shooting a full court shot across ninety-eight courts that are moving at a hundred and twenty-five miles per hour." I told him. He rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, numbers, numbers, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah…just tell me what I'm chucking." He replied, getting down on his knees. I focused and double check the numbers as a count down went off from the car.

" _Guys, I'm sorry."_  Leo said sadly.  _"You're trying to rescue me and Calla when I'm supposed to be protecting you. I guess I wasn't a very good enforcer."_

" _No, you weren't."_  Calla told him.  _"Hey guys? In case I do…you know, can I be buried away from Leo? I really don't need him annoying me in the afterlife too. Oh, and you guys were the best friends ever."_

I hated, truly hated, the sound of defeat in Calla's voice. She thought that it was the end. And she was still cracking jokes and trying to make us smile. Taking a deep breath, I created my force field and got behind Adam. I place the force field/plasma ball in his hands as the ominous countdown continued.

Using my brother as a slingshot, I sent the force field flying. I jumped to my feet. "Let's see if it worked." I said, pulling out my holographic camera. It showed the plasma hit the car about three meters from a cliff. It stopped where it was, on solid ground.

"It worked! The car stopped! Yes!" we all hugged each other, relieved. I could hear Calla and Leo laughing, with a hint of relief and hysteria in their voices. Bree hung up her phone and grabbed our arms.

"Let's go get them." She said. Adam and I both nodded and she sped us off to the cliff, next to the car. Calla and Leo were both on their knees, worshipping Mother Earth.

"Are you two alright?" I laughed as Leo kissed the ground. Calla nodded as the two got to their feet.

"Near-death experiences. Fun." Calla said in a fake pleasant voice, giving me a thumbs up. I shook my head as Adam, Bree, and Leo got into the car. I went to get in, but noticed that Calla wasn't moving.

"Aren't you coming?" I asked, holding open the door for her. She crossed her arms.

"Chase." She said in a deathly serious voice, one that I knew better than to argue with. "There is no way in hell that I am getting back in that car."

Then, it started to rain.

Calla, who was wearing nothing but a T-shirt and jeans, pushed past me into the car, muttering "Damn weather."

** Calla's POV **

I didn't say a word the whole way back to Mr. Davenport's house. Maybe it was because I was freaked out. But more likely because I just wanted to go home and sleep. Nearly dying was really exhausting.

"You guys may have saved our lives, but you also almost ended it, so you're not off the hook." Leo said as we stepped out of the car. "I'm going to be on you like yogurt on Adam's shirt."

Adam looked at his shirt in confusion, then licked the pinkish-brown stain. He laughed. "That's not yogurt." He informed us. Suddenly, Mr. Davenport came in.

"HEY!" He yelled, making us all jump. "Do you guys have any idea how much trouble you're in?"

We all exchanged nervous looks. "I told you; three feet away at all times and no breathing on the windows."

We all apologized, leaving the lab as he examined his beauty. I grabbed my stuff from my desk so I could work on it at home. "I'm outta here." I told them.

"Want me to walk you home?" Chase offered. I smiled at him.

"Sure, that'd be great." I thanked him. He grinned.

"Just let me get my jacket." He told me, running off to get it from the coat room. I looked at Adam.

"Let me guess, it's still hidden in the pantry, isn't it?" I'd seen him hide it a few days ago. Adam nodded happily. I sighed and followed Leo upstairs. I plopped myself down on the couch, while he grabbed some cookies and milk for himself.

"Ooh, cookies!" I grinned, reaching for one. He held the plate out of my reach.

"Hey, nobody touched my chocolate chip cookies!" he told me. Suddenly, the door bell rang. Leo opened the door to reveal Marcus.

"Oh hey. Perhaps I haven't made this clear, but I don't like you." Leo said cheerfully. Marcus ignored him.

"Leo, Calla, I'm glad you two are back safe. I can't believe you almost ended up at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean."

I jumped to my feet. "How did you know where the car was set to go?" I demanded. Marcus froze, unsure of how to answer.

"…I didn't?" he lied. Leo gasped.

"Wait a minute, you sabotaged us. You programmed that car! I'm going to tell Davenport!" he announced. We both started running to the lab. A green light went over our shoulders, hit the toaster, and it exploded. I stumbled backwards, hitting the couch, while Leo dropped his plate and glass in shock. We spun around and looked at Marcus, hints of green still remaining in his eyes.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." He warned. "That was a warning shot, the next one won't be."

"You…the toaster…" Leo stumbled over his words. I was speechless. Marcus laughed.

"Surprise. I'm bionic…just like you Adam, Bree, and Chase." I blinked hard. Then blinked again. Whoa…

"And you know about…but how…" Leo was still trying to process everything.

"Okay, you are just dropping bombs everywhere, man." I said, finding my voice. Marcus smirked, and stepped closer to us. I gulped, knowing how much damage laser vision could do to a human.

"You tell anyone, and the whole world will know about your family's little secret." He told Leo. "Adam, Bree, and Chase will get taken away, Davenport will be ruined forever. I would hate to see your family ripped apart by your big mouth."

Marcus turned to me. "Same goes for you. Your best friends gone forever, because you decided to be a reckless idiot. How would you feel about that?"

I gulped. He couldn't do that! He couldn't just report them like that! I…I wouldn't let him! A life without silly, innocent Adam…without funny, fierce Bree…without sweet, kind, intelligent Chase…it was unthinkable.

"Hey Calla, are you ready to go…oh, hey Marcus." Chase walked out into the living room, Adam and Bree trailing behind him. Marcus smiled.

"Hey guys. I just came over here to check if Leo and Calla were okay." He told them.

"How sweet is this guy?" Adam exclaimed. I looked at Leo and we shared a silent vow. We would protect them. We would keep silent, for the moment anyway.

"Leo?" Chase was worried when we didn't say anything. "Calla? Are you guys alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good." Leo replied after a moment. I faked a smile at Chase.

"Let's go." I told him, reaching for my bag. Marcus grabbed it first.

"Here you go, Calla." He handed it to me, then whispered in my ear. "Not. A. Word."

I nodded at him to show that I understood, then walked outside with Chase. He started going on, and on about some homework assignment, but I wasn't really paying attention. A bunch of questions just started going over my mind. How did Marcus get bionics? How did he find out about Adam, Bree, and Chase? What were Leo and I going to do about it?

"Calla?" Chase brought me out of my thoughts. He looked at me with concern. "Are you okay?"

"Hm? Yeah, I'm fine. Oh look, my house!" I tried to act like my usually self. He looked at me, not believing that I was fine. "Look, I almost died today. It's not my fault if I'm a bit out of it."

Chase smiled. "Hey, you know I'll always come help you whenever you need it."

"Thanks Chase, but I'm not exactly a damsel in distress. I like to do my own rescuing." I replied. He chuckled.

"And how did that work out for you today?" he asked. I punched him in the shoulder.

"Jerk." I couldn't help but smile. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you!" he called as I walked up to my stairs. I  _would_  see him tomorrow. Whatever Marcus was planning, it involved Chase. And Adam and Bree. And there was no way in hell I was going to let that sociopath hurt them.


	2. Missin' the Mission

** Leo's POV **

"No!" Calla complained in outrage. I smirked as I replaced her bishop with my rook.

"What's the matter?" I asked innocently. "Oh? Am I winning?"

"It's my move." She said through gritted teeth. She looked at the board with a frown. She was trapped and she knew it. After a few minutes, she sighed and flicked over her king.

"I just lost at chess to a pipsqueak who's didn't even know what a pawn was at the beginning of the game." She complained as Adam, Bree, Chase, and Big D walked in, back from their mission.

"Yes, yes you did." I agreed before walking over to greet them. "Hey guys, how was the mission?"

"Great. We fixed the pentagon's communication satellite and returned it to orbit." Bree replied. Chase grinned.

"I even rigged it to give us every TV channel in the world." Chase grinned. "Who wants to watch Guatemala drag racing?"

"Sure!" Calla grinned. I looked at her. "What? It's foreign."

"Did my suggestions come in handy on the mission?" I asked eagerly. They all frowned.

"What suggestions?" Chase asked. I frowned as well.

"I did a ton of strategic research and gave it to Big D." I looked at said inventor.

"Oh, right. I'm sorry Leo, I didn't have time to use it." He told me. I was very disappointed to hear that. I really wanted to help.

"Yes you did!" Adam reminded him. "You spilled your coffee and used Leo's research to mop it up." I looked at Big D, even more upset.

"You used my suggestions as a sponge?" I demanded. Big D shrugged.

"More like a paper towel. I used Calla's research as a sponge." Big D corrected. Calla sighed and went back to resetting the chess board.

"I told you he wouldn't use it, Leo." She called. I glared at her as Adam, Bree, and Chase went to clear out the rest of their gear. I turned back to Big D.

"We need to talk. I'm done being the water boy. I want to be part of the team." I told him.

"Leo, I told you. You can't be part of the team. You're not bionic. And besides, statistics show that most accidents happen within a three-mile radius of you." Calla stood up and walked over to us, her arms crossed.

"That's not fair. We can be helpful." She objected. I nodded.

"You just need to give us a chance." I agreed. Big D shook his head.

"No way." He told us, his voice firm.

"But I've grown! I've matured! I wear a medium now." I had just moved up sizes last week and I was very proud of it.

"Fine. I think I know of a way you two can help." Big D finally gave in. Calla and I grinned as he reached under the counter for something.

"Finally! Thank you." I said gratefully. He dumped to loads of papers into both of our arms. "What are these?"

"You two can type up the mission summary reports." He told us. I looked at him.

"You want me to be your secretary?" I questioned. Big D shook his head.

"No, no. Of course not. Secretaries get paid, you will be doing this for free. Calla's my secretary." He smiled and walked away. Calla glared at me.

"Nice job, Dooley." She said, stalking off.

** Bree's POV **

"Suddenly, Rebecca jumps out of the blue in a Godzilla costume, terrorizes the city, defeats the king and eats all the Twinkies in the world." Calla finished. I stared at her.

"That is not seriously how Becky finished her short story for English, is it?" I demanded. Calla nodded, smiling.

"Yeah…she needs help." She replied. Chase looked at her.

"No, really?" he asked sarcastically. "What did she get on it?"

"An A+." Calla replied. "The teacher liked her creativity."

"Not so fast!" We turned around, hearing Principle Perry yelling at us. We all groaned. She ran towards us, and then turned to me and my brothers.

"You three missed school yesterday. Not that I didn't enjoy it, but it's been happening WAY too much lately. Look at this attendance report." She held up a clip board that showed more Xs (meaning absent) than checkmarks (meaning present). Chase frowned.

"You still keep paper records?" he asked. "You know we have computers now. Also indoor plumbing and fire."

"Do you really want to poke the bear?" she questioned. Leo looked at her.

"Do you really want to use that analogy?" he countered. I smirked.

"Shut it Dooley!" Principal Perry snapped at him before turning back to us. "You three are in big trouble."

"Actually, we're not." I pulled out the slip of paper Mr. Davenport had given each of us. "Because we have a note from our dad. He signed it and everything."

"With his name." Adam felt the need to clarify. Principal Perry read the note.

"Oh, well I'm sorry. My bad. This fixes absolutely…" She said cheerfully before throwing away the note. "…nothing. Just because your dad lets you cut school, doesn't mean I have to. Somebody has to lay down the law. I'll see you three in detention."

She walked off to go torture some other student. "Great." Chase complained. "We miss school for a mission and get punished. This isn't fair."

"No, it's not." Leo agreed. Calla's looked up, a little surprised. She grabbed Leo's arm.

"Well, you guys have fun with that. We gotta go." She told us, dragging Leo over to Rebeccka.

** Leo's POV **

"What are you doing?" I demanded. Calla ignored me.

"Becky! Can we have a word with you?" she asked. Rebeccka nodded and walked over to us, a pretty smile on her face.

"What's up?" she asked. Calla looked at me, then her friend.

"Remember how I asked you to find out some things on Marcus?" she asked. Rebeccka nodded.

"Yeah. Why?" Calla sighed.

"I need you to stop." She said seriously. I looked at her. Was she seriously telling our best lead to stop helping us? Did Marcus brainwash her or something?

"Why?" Rebeccka was just as confused as I was.

"Because we don't need your help anymore. But thank you." Rebeccka nodded, still confused, and walked away. I looked at Calla.

"What the hell?" I demanded. Calla sighed, crossing her arms.

"We both know that Marcus…" she looked around as if she expected him to pop out. "…is dangerous. I don't want to get Becky involved with this. She could get hurt, and possibly find out about Adam, Bree, and Chase."

I nodded; that made sense. "What are we going to do?"

Calla shrugged. "Keep our mouths shut, first of all." She told me. "No sense in putting Adam, Bree, and Chase in danger needlessly. If we have no other choice, we'll tell them, but for the moment, let them be blissfully ignorant. And I guess we'll have to figure out the rest on our own."

"Agreed. Starting with how he knows about them." Calla nodded.

"Let's go." She told me. I followed her back to our friends, where she made some excuse about talking to Becky about homework.

** Xxx **

"The summary reports are done." I announced dully as Calla and I walked into the lab, carrying the massive piles of paperwork.

"And might I add, we have never felt more alive." Calla told Big D sarcastically. He looked up from the machine he was working on, rolled his eyes, and then went back to it.

"So what are you working on?" I asked, curious. The machine turned around to reveal Eddy's face.

"HI!" He exclaimed. I jumped back, dropping the papers. Calla, upon instinct, tossed the papers at the machine. They went flying everywhere. "Ha! Now none of you are safe!"

I looked at Calla and she shrugged. "What? When I see evil, I throw things." She explained. I nodded, agreeing with her.

"Isn't it cool?" Big D asked. "I designed a robot body for Eddy. He can now patrol the grounds, disable explosives, and he can mix two paint cans at once."

We both looked at him, then back at Eddy. "Look what else I can do!" Eddy exclaimed. Suddenly, white smoke shot out at Calla and I. It smelled really bad.

"Isn't that great? What do you think?" Big D asked. Calla looked at him, then Eddy, then at me.

"At least you're not the shortest person in the room anymore." She told me optimistically. Eddy's head rose above mine.

" _Now_  what do you think?" he asked. I stared at him.

"I think I'm going to start locking my door at night." I decided. Eddy obviously didn't like that, because a second later he shot Calla and I with some sort of liquid.

"You'd better hope that was water." He cheered. Calla glared at Big D.

"Well it was mostly water." He told us. He didn't tell us what else it was, but we really didn't want to know.

** Bree's POV **

"This is so unfair." I muttered as I pulled out my textbooks and cell phone. Principal Perry started going over the rules of detention, but I wasn't really paying attention. There was this guy, Owen that had been flirting with me lately over text. I really hoped he would ask me out. Suddenly, my phone was snatched out of my hands.

"And no cell phones." Principal Perry told me. I wrinkled my nose in disgust.

"And apparently no mouthwash." I whispered to Chase. He nodded in silent agreement.

"Joke's on you; I gargle with vinegar." Principal Perry told me. I looked at her.

"Why?" I demanded to no one in particular. I grabbed my pencil and started to work on my homework, but an alarm from Chase's phone stopped me. He hid the phone so Principal Perry wouldn't see, but as soon as she was gone, he read the message.

"Guys!" he hissed. "I just got an urgent mission alert from Mr. Davenport." I looked at him.

"Oh no! What are we going to do?" It's not like we could do anything from detention. Adam looked at me, annoyance on his face.

"Guys! Perry said no talking!" he snapped. He looked up and called Principal Perry over. "Excuse me! We've got a couple of talkers over here!"

We glared at him, but Principal Perry stormed over before we could say anything. "You two are busted!" she snapped. She took Chase's phone, then walked away, ignoring Adam's hand that was raised for a high five.

"Are you little thugs holding anything else?" she demanded. She smirked and looked at two of the cafeteria ladies. "Flo, Brandy, we need a pat down over here. Go ahead girls, flip 'em and rip 'em."

Chase and I exchanged nervous glances as the two massive lunch ladies approached us.

** Leo's POV **

"Outta my way, Parker!" I shouted as my Mario pushed Calla's Princess Daisy out of the way on Mario Kart. She had finished her work about twenty minutes ago, and had challenged me to a Grand Prix on my Wii. I was winning, obviously.

"Would you stop that?" Big D yelled suddenly. We both looked up to see him and Eddy walking into the room.

"What? Do you think I'm trying to crash into your but?" Eddy demanded. Calla raised an eyebrow.

"Okay!" she said. "Did not need to hear that."

"Where is everybody?" Big D asked, ignoring her comment. "I sent out a Mission Alert and no one is responding."

"Well, my phone's dead and Adam, Bree, and Chase are in detention." Calla replied, getting up to go down to the lab.

"They're probably getting flipped and ripped as we speak." I added cheerfully. "The flipping's not so bad. It's the ripping that haunts you."

Big D gave me a strange look, as did Calla. "What's up?" she asked after a moment.

"There is an underground gas leak and the hazmat team can not contain it. I need Adam, Bree, and Chase to shut it down." Big D explained.

"Let us help." I offered. Big D laughed.

"That's very funny." He told me. "But this is serious. If that sub station explodes it will send a highly toxic gas cloud into the atmosphere." He pulled out his phone a dialled in a number. "I've got to get Principal Perry to let them go. Talk about a highly toxic gas cloud."

Calla and I nodded our agreement. We waited for a couple of minutes, but there was no answer. "There's no answer! I can't wait for them."

Big D ran to the counter, grabbed a piece of paper, and wrote down a quick note. He handed it to Calla.

"You two take this note to Principal Perry and tell her to let Adam, Bree, and Chase leave. Eddy and I will head to the sub station to start taking gas level readings." He told us, ushering us out the door.

"Wait a second!" Calla exclaimed, an annoyed expression on her face. "You're taking the crappy AI and not us?"

"Oh, it's nothing personal." Eddy assured us. "He just thinks that you two are worthless."

We both looked at the robot, offended. "Come on!" Big D snapped, running down to the lab, the stupid security system following him.

** Bree's POV **

"We have to get out of here." I whispered to my brothers. The clock was ticking and Mr. Davenport's mission alert went out ages ago.

"Guys, don't worry." Adam said. "I'll just use my super strength to bust down the wall."

"Adam, then everyone would see your bionics." Chase reminded the idiot.

"Oh yeah." He nodded. Suddenly, the doors opened. Calla and Leo were led in roughly by four lunch ladies.

"Oh, goodie!" Principal Perry rolled her eyes as we looked at the two hopefully. "What do you want?"

"There's an emergency and my step dad asked me to give you this." Leo handed her a note. Principal Perry grinned.

"Mmm. Yum. A second lunch." She stuffed the paper inside her and ate it.

"What are you doing?" Calla demanded. "This is serious! It's a matter of life and death."

"You said the same thing when the vending machine ran out of chocolate bars." Principal Perry snapped.

"But this is different! Please, you've got to let them go!" Leo pleaded.

"No!" Principal Perry replied. Then she had an idea. I hate it when she gets ideas. "Although…there might be a way they can earn their freedom."

My brothers and I looked at each other nervously. This was going to be torture.

** Xxx **

"Thirty-eight, thirty-nine…" Principal Perry counted loudly. Her way for us to earn our freedom involved us spinning around a baseball bat for forty seconds, then walking out. "And forty! Whoever makes it out the open door is free to leave."

I stumbled around the centre of the room, trying to regain my center of balance. Meanwhile, Adam tried to escape and ended up falling on his face.

I started walking towards the spinning door near where Leo, Calla, and Principal Perry, but somehow, I fell narrowly avoided catching my face on the side of a table.

"Come on Chase! You've almost got it!" I heard Calla yell as I tried desperately to calm my churning stomach. There was a loud bang, then a groan of pain and I knew he had failed like the rest of us.

"Prepare to be entertained enema-brains. Time for my next challenge." Principal Perry told the rest of the kids in detention. I looked up to see Calla and Leo glaring at Principal Perry.

"They're going to be here a while, aren't they?" Leo guessed.

"Ring-ring. Excuse me a second. Hello?" Principal Perry pretended to answer a phone. "Oh! Department of stupid questions?" she held out the fake finger phone to Leo. "It's for you."

Calla sighed, said something to Leo, then ran over to the three of us. "You guys alright?" she asked. I nodded, Adam looked like he was going to hurl, and Chase was rubbing his forehead. "Okay! Leo and I are going to go back to the lab, see what we can do. Meanwhile, you guys get out of here as soon as possible, okay?"

"We'll try." Chase promised. Calla smiled, then ran off after Leo.

** Leo's POV **

"This is crazy." Calla complained for the hundredth time since we'd left the lab, which was about two and a half hours ago. I glared at her.

"Would you rather be in detention with Principal Perry?" I questioned. Calla thought about it.

"Well, no…but that doesn't make this any less crazy." She replied. I sighed. At least she had gotten over how ugly the hazmat uniforms were. "Oh! There's Mr. Davenport and Evil Robot #1."

"Leo! Calla!" Big D gasped.

"Adam, Bree, and Chase are stuck in detention and Principal Perry won't let them out!" Calla exclaimed before he could say anything else.

"Don't worry though. We brought you something even better." I assured him. He looked at us hopefully. "US!"

He sighed. "Whoo-hoo! Leo and Calla are here!" Eddy cheered. We all stared at him. "Said no one ever."

"Get out of here!" Big D snapped as we walked over to him. "The gas levels are rising. It's to dangerous."

"No way! We are not leaving you behind!" I replied. Big D started to push us towards the exit.

"Go!" he ordered. Suddenly, part of the exit exploded and large amounts of rubble caved in. Calla looked at Big D.

"That would have killed us!" she exclaimed. "That is proof why we should not listen to what you say."

Big D ignored her and ran to check what the damage was. He came back a minute later. "Great! Now the access tunnel is jammed! A spark must have caused the secondary line to blow. If the primary line goes, we're toast!"

"Well that's just great!" Eddy complained. "There goes my five K fun run."

"SHUT! IT!" Big D yelled. He placed his hand against a pipe, then shouted "Hot! That is hot! And my glove is melting!"

Calla and I grabbed his arm and pulled, getting the melting glove off of the pipe. Calla looked at Eddy.

"Time. Now." She ordered.

"Five twenty-three." He replied. She sighed in relief.

"Detention ends at five-thirty. And with Bree's speed, they should be here within the half hour."

** Bree's POV **

"Time for round four…hundred!" Principal Perry announce. I looked at Chase, then lifted the two massive boxing gloves. We moved to fight each other, but our legs wouldn't hold us up any longer. We collapsed to the ground.

"And the winner of the Very Scary Perry Knockout Challenge is…" Adam looked up hopefully. "Me!"

Principal Perry laughed, "Man, this is more fun than watching my cats fight for the last spot in the bed. Only the pretty kitties get to cuddle with mama."

Finally, the sweet, heavenly bell rang , releasing us from this prison. I slowly got to my feet as Perry tossed us our cell phones.

"Come on guys!" Chase urged us. "If we hurry, we can still make the mission."

"We have to go get our gear first." I reminded him. We ran to leave, but Principal Perry stopped us.

"Hold on." She said suspiciously. "What gear? What mission? Is that some sort of code for vandalism? Are you three pulling a school prank?"

"No!" "Of course not." "Yes." Chase and I stared at Adam.

"What are you doing?" Chase demanded.

"Not talking about the mission. Duh." Adam replied. I looked at Principal Perry in hopes of covering for Adam's idiocy.

"He must have taken a few too many giant boxing gloves to the head." I explained. "There's no prank. We're gonna mosey. Thank you for a lovely detention." We started to run, but she stopped us again.

"Hold it Lady Blah-Blah! You three have a secret and there's nothing I hate more than secrets. Well, except for other people's birthdays. You're alive, we get it." She said. "Now we're gonna play a little game I like to call Interrogation."

"I love that game!" Adam gasped joyfully. "I call top hat! No, little dog! No, TOP HAT! Ugh! I can't decide."

** Leo's POV **

"The gas levels are still building and our oxygen is almost gone." Big D shouted, trying to be heard over the sound of all the gases spraying at us. "Time is running out!"

"Where are Adam, Bree, and Chase?" I demanded. Calla shrugged.

"They should have been here by now." She replied.

"This is why I need their bionics." Big D continued as if we hadn't spoken. "If Bree was here, she could use her super speed to create a vacuum to contain the gas until I figured out a way to slow down the leak."

Suddenly, another jet of steam shot right next to me. I turned at the sound, and when I turned back, I noticed the fan. "Wait, what if we speed it up?"

"You do realize that's the opposite of slowing it down, right?" Big D asked. I rolled my eyes.

"I mean the fan." I explained. "When Adam has BO, we use the exhaust fan in his capsule to empty the nastiness into Bree's. It's disgusting for her but hilarious for us."

"So you're saying that if we can start to turbine…" Big D realized. "Then we can suck all the gas out of here and seal it in the containment tunnel! Leo, that is brilliant!"

I nodded as he ran off to turn on the turbine. "Yeah, well just don't go and use it to wipe off your spilled coffee."

Big D rolled his eyes. "The only thing is, if that turbine sparks it can blow the whole place up."

"Yeah, but if we don't do anything, we'll definitely blow up." I reminded him. He thought about it.

"Tiny logic strikes again!" I grinned, glad that he agreed with me. "Alright, fingers crossed." He said as he went to flip a switch. Suddenly, the sound of a massive explosion came from behind us. We ducked and spun around, expecting to see our oncoming deaths. Instead, we saw a fake explosion on Eddy's monitor.

"Just kidding!" the robot laughed. Big D sighed, and hit the switch. I looked back to see the turbine speeding up.

"It's working." Calla announced. I grinned.

"See Big D. Told you I could help." I told him. Calla tapped my shoulder urgently.

"Uh, guys?" she asked. "Should it be going that fast?"

It was then that I noticed all the flying objects. Even our bags and tools were sucked in by the giant fan. Then Eddy started getting pulled towards it. I grabbed onto Big D to avoid being sucked in myself. He was gripping onto the electrical panel and hitting buttons, while Calla was hugging the pipe next to us for dear life.

"Can you stop it? Can you stop it? Can you stop it?" I asked.

"I'm trying to concentrate!" Big D replied. Calla looked at us.

"Well, are you concentrating on trying to stop it?" she shouted.

** Bree's POV **

I tapped my fingers on the table impatiently while we waited for Principal Perry. She had set us up at a table, interrogation style, but before she could ask us anything, she had to take a phone call.

"Well, since Adam clearly has no clue what to say under pressure, here's how we'll handle this." Chase said, looking at Adam. "Whenever you're asked a question, we'll distract her and answer it for you. Got it?"

Silence. "Got it, Adam?" I asked. Still no answer.

"Adam!" Chase hissed.

"What?" Adam demanded. "I thought you were going to answer it for me. Guys, get with the program."

I rolled my eyes just as Principal Perry walked in. She sat down on the edge of the table. "Okay. Let's start." She snapped her fingers and all the lights went out except for the one shining down on us. "Everybody comfortable? Temperature okay? Refresh your drinks? No…Good."

She slammed her hands down on the table, startling us. "What is this so called mission?!"

I faked a smile. "Can I just say that your hair looks great? Who is doing it these days?"

"Fernando over at the wig convention." She replied. "He's a genius. It's mostly racoon."

We stared at her. "But that's not the point!" she snapped. She glanced at Adam. "Why were you talking about going on a so-called mission?"

"Are you sure he actually said that?" Chase asked. "Countless scientific studies have proven that people perceive reality…"

"Don't try to distract me squat-mug!" Principal Perry shouted. "When you're hunting big game, you have to separate the weakest from the pack."

Adam nodded in agreement and we both looked at Chase. "Me?" he asked, offended and surprised. Principal Perry shook her head.

"You two!" she pointed to me and Chase. "Scram!"

"Funny story!" Chase exclaimed, still trying to distract her. "The word scram…"

"I SAID SCRAM!" Principal Perry screamed. We bolted from our seats, only stopping at the other end of the gym. Principal Perry turned to Adam and started asking him some things.

"Great! Adam's totally going to crack under pressure!" I exclaimed.

"No, no. He always comes through when it counts." Chase assured me. We turned back and saw Adam gesturing to his muscles, then at himself. He then pointed at Chase, then tapped his forehead. Finally, he nodded at me, and made it look like he was running. "Or not."

Adam raised his hand, and Principal Perry almost high fived him. That proved it. We were dead. Principal Perry walked over to us, a confident smile on her face. "He told me everything. Now I know all your dirty little secrets! HA!"

She walked away and we looked at Adam. He gave us a thumbs up, a carefree grin on his face.

** Leo's POV **

"This was not supposed to happen!" I shouted. We were all hugging the large pipe now, Calla and Big D holding onto Eddy's neck to keep him from flying. Although, Calla was only holding on because Big D promised her that she'd pay for the damages out of her pay check if she let go. The wind was blowing stronger than ever and I wasn't sure how much longer we could hang on.

"Really?" Big D snapped. "Because when I woke up this morning, I was SO hoping I would be puréed in a banana suit."

"Hey! What if we jam something in the blades? That would stop the turbine." Calla suggested.

"There's nothing big enough down here!" Big D replied. Calla smiled evilly.

"I can think of something." She said, a glint in her eye. Big D and I followed her gaze to see her looking at Eddy.

"Wait! You can't mean me! There's got be something else." He protested,

"I vote Eddy!" Calla shouted.

"I second it!" I called.

"Third!" Big D agreed as Calla and he let go. Eddy flew into the machine and blades stopped, stuck. Calla jumped up and ran to the electrical box. She hit a button.

"The containment tunnel is now sealed." She announced in relief.

"It worked!" Big D exclaimed. We all grinned and hugged each other. Suddenly, Eddy let out a moan.

We walked over to his broken body. Hopefully, it was un-repairable. "Is that you, Donny?" Eddy asked. Big D grimaced.

"I'm here Eddy." He replied.

"The light is so dim. It's so cold." Eddy moaned. "You look…smaller."

"You're dying Eddy, wrap it up." Big D said. Calla smirked and I briefly wondered who disliked Eddy more; Calla or my mom. My mom was still winning, but Calla was gaining ground.

"I need you to do something for me." Eddie said weakly. "Tell Tasha…it should have been her."

Finally, the light on Eddy's monitor went out. Big D sighed. "Calla, grab Eddie monitor…actually Leo, you do it."

I did as I was told. "Why am I not allowed to?" Calla demanded.

"Because you'll drop it…"

"HEY!"

"…on purpose." Big D finished.

"Oh. Good point." Calla agreed before walking to the access tunnel. "Hey!" she called back. "The wind turbine unblocked the tunnel!"

"Really?" I asked. Good. We wouldn't be stuck here until Adam, Bree, and Chase FINALLY arrived.

** Bree's POV **

"We're here, Mr. Davenport!" Chase yelled, running into the lab a few steps ahead of me. "What's the urgent mission?"

"You missed it!" Mr. Davenport exclaimed. "Luckily Leo and Calla here saved our buts."

We looked at him. "No, seriously. What's the mission?" I asked. If this mission was so urgent, why was he joking about it?

Calla and Leo looked at us, offended. "I'm not kidding." Mr. Davenport replied, much to our surprise. "Leo and Calla really stepped it up today, especially Leo. He showed me that he has what it takes to be part of this team, so I am making him our new Strategic Mission Specialist."

"Congrats!" "Way to go!" "You're going to be in the lab more? I think we'll need another fire extinguisher." "Mosletov!" we congratulated him.

"Awesome!" Leo exclaimed. Then he frowned. "Wait, does that mean more paperwork?"

"Yes." Mr. Davenport replied. "But you will also be helping Calla and I design the overall mission's strategies and while these guys are in the field, you will be assisting us from your own Mission Specialist workstation!"

Mr. Davenport pointed to a brand new, glass desk right next to Calla's. It already had a Davenport Industries laptop and an electronic name plate on it.

"Really?" Leo gasped. "This is mine?"

"Yes." Mr. Davenport replied. Leo grinned, then glared at me and pushed my hands off the desk.

"Finger prints." He explained. I raised my hands in surrender. "Wow. I'm officially on the team! I have my own place in the lab and I'll finally have input. Sounds like the kind of position that should come with a serious increase in allowance."

"Or, I could eliminate the position entirely." Mr. Davenport replied. Leo's smile didn't waver.

"We'll talk about the money later." He said. Chase looked at Leo and Calla.

"Alright, I have to know. How did you save the day?" he asked. Adam and I leaned in, eager to hear. Calla grinned happily.

"Well, Leo turned on a fan, and I killed Eddy." She replied. I nodded. It was really better not to ask, especially if it involved murdering robots. Mr. Davenport smirked and went upstairs.

"So, how  _did_  you guys get out of Perry's prison?" Leo asked. We all grinned guiltily. They were not going to like this…

"Yeah, about that…" Chase started.

"Funny story." I said, smiling. "Perry interrogated us and Adam gave her some very damaging information."

Calla and Leo looked at Adam in horror. "It's not what you think!" Chase assured them. Calla looked at him, then Adam.

"What did you say?" she demanded. He grinned.

"Well, I said 'We are always missing school because of Leo and Calla. They're always playing these crazy pranks on us, and they call them missions. And Calla's actually stronger than I am, Chase thinks Leo's got something missing up here, and Bree just keeps running away from them.'"

Leo and Calla were horrified again. "Anyway, now you two have detention." I told them. "For a month."

"What? But that's not fair!" Leo complained. Chase put a hand on his shoulder.

"No. It really isn't." he agreed. "Well, you have fun!"

** Leo's POV **

They walked off, leaving me and Calla alone in the lab. She didn't say anything, just went to the consol and started tapping buttons. "Hey Leo?" she asked after a moment.

"Yeah?" I replied.

"Has your mom finished Adam's laundry yet?" I frowned and shook my head.

"No. She won't touch that stuff without a hazmat suit. Why?" I asked. Calla turned to me, grinning.

"Well, I got an idea from earlier today. We'll just take Adam's gym clothes and filter their stench into Adam, Bree, and Chase's capsules tonight. And tomorrow. Until the month of detention is done."

I grinned. "Are you sure you're not secretly evil?" I asked. She shrugged and I ran off to go get the clothes. You know what they say. Revenge is a dish best served smelly.


	3. Bro Down

** Calla's POV **

I HATED paperwork. It was the least exciting part of my job. And when I had a headache, it was almost unbearable. But I was still getting paid, so I sat in the lab Sunday morning, typing away.

Not to mention, Mr. Davenport wasn't too happy with me. A week ago, Leo and I pulled a little revenge prank on Adam, Bree, and Chase after they got us detention. Long story short, it involved Adam's dirty laundry. Mr. Davenport was very annoyed at having to air the capsules out just so they could breathe. He figured out it was us after a few days, and had punished the both of us. Leo was grounded for a week and I got extra paper-work. Considering that it could have been worse, I took the paperwork happily. But my head was pounding and Chase's odd, happy, cackling and the strange squeaking noises were making it ten times worse than usual.

Finally, I gave up. "Okay, what is with all the happy, squeaky, hamster noises? Did you finally grow a chest hair?"I teased, turning around in my seat to see Chase messing around with a pulley system. A black rope trap sat in the middle of the floor.

"No! I grew two."Chase replied childishly. I smirked. "Actually, this is a little something I'd like to call Adam's pay back."

"For what?" I asked, a little amused. Chase looked at me.

"Don't you remember what happened on Thursday?" He asked. I thought about it, then smiled at the memory.

"Oh yeah…"

_ FLASHBACK OF EPICNESS _

_ We all stood in the living room/kitchen, arguing over Adam's chances. _

" _Adam, there is no way you can clear that counter." Leo said. Adam looked highly offended._

" _I can reach that easy." Adam replied. Bree nodded._

" _I've seen him do it." She told us. I crossed my arms._

" _Yeah, but that was a long time ago. He's grown since then." I argued. Suddenly, Chase walked in._

" _Hey, what are you guys talking about?" he asked. Adam grinned._

" _This." He grabbed Chase and tossed him across the room. He crashed into the three stools in front of the counter, groaning in pain. Leo looked at Bree._

" _Told you." He said smugly._

_ FLASHBACK OF EPICNESS OVER _

"Ah yeah. We all love the bionic brother toss." I said, still smiling.

"Yeah, well let's see how he likes this." Chase said as Leo, Bree, and Adam walked into the lab. Bree sat down next to me, in Leo's desk chair. Chase grabbed a remote and hid in the corner, a mad scientist look on his face.

"Trap." Leo said in a bored tone, stepping over the black rope. Adam, being the idiot he was, stepped inside of the rope with one foot, not even noticing.

"Trap what?" he asked. Chase hit a button on the remote, the rope tightened around Adam's ankle, and lifted him three feet off the ground. "Whoa!" he shouted in surprised.

"Yes! It worked!" Chase exclaimed, running from his hiding spot. "Now let's see how  _you_  like being relentlessly manhandled!"

We all stared at him and he realized what he just said. "That came out wrong." He admitted. I nodded.

"Uh, yeah. Just a little bit." Bree commented.

"Oh, the trap was on the floor." Adam finally realized.

"Yep, and now we're gonna play a game called Human Piñata, but instead of candy, we're gonna guess what Adam had for lunch." Chase said.

"Ironically, I'm guessing it's candy." Leo commented. Adam nodded and I sighed. I should probably stop that before it got any worse, but I decided against it.

"You're forgetting one thing, Chase, I can use my heat vision to break free." Adam reminded him. I stood up.

"Adam, that's not really a good…" Adam looked up and sent a laser at the rope. It broke and Adam hit the ground hard. "…idea."

Adam stood up. "Ha! Nice try!" He didn't even notice that his left arm was wrapped around the back of his neck. Bree stood up.

"Um, Adam?" she said worriedly. He looked at his arm.

"Whoa, I never knew my arm could bend like that." He said.

"It can't." Chase said. Adam looked between him, and the arm, then back at him. Then he started screaming in pain. Bree looked like she just might puke, Leo looked like he was going to faint, and Chase looked like he had no idea what to do. I took a deep breath.

"Bree, Davenport. Now." I ordered. She nodded and sped upstairs. "Adam?" he was still screaming. "Adam. ADAM!"

He shut up. I took a deep breath, then in a soft voice, I told him, "Sit down and stop screaming." He did as I asked, looking scared and hurt. I wasn't used to that amount of vulnerability on his face and it bothered me a lot. I walked over to him and moved the arm back to a normal position. "Chase, help me get his sweater off."

Chase ran over, and helped me remove the sweater without hurting Adam too much. I took a good look at the arm and sighed with relief. I'd seen this a few times before. Both with Jaden, and with that first aid course I took last year. "Adam, it's not broken, just dislocated."

"And that's a good thing?" he asked nervously. I nodded and smiled at him reassuringly.

"If it was broken, it would be very serious. A dislocation is serious too, but I know how to fix this. Mostly." I replied.

"Mostly." He repeated. I nodded.

"Jay's dislocated his arm a few times playing football and I took a first-aid class over the summer. I know how to pop it back in." I told him. He nodded. "That's what I'm going to do now. But it's going to hurt."

"How much?" He sounded like a little kid. I bit my lip.

"A lot." "A little." I said at the same time as Leo. Leo looked at me.

"Why would you say that?" Leo demanded. I crossed my arms.

"I'm not going to sugar-coat everything! I'm not a damn candy maker dude!" Maybe my head ache was making me a little cranky. I turned back to Adam. "Are you ready?"

He nodded. "Okay. On three. One…" I quickly popped the shoulder back in. "Two, three."

"OW!" Adam shouted as Mr. Davenport and Bree ran in.

"What's going on?" Mr. Davenport demanded, seeing Adam holding his arm.

"Adam dislocated his shoulder and I popped it back in." Mr. Davenport nodded and started to examine Adam's arm himself. Said bionic brother glared furiously at me.

"Why would you go on one? I thought you said on three!" he exclaimed. I nodded.

"I did. But everyone tenses up by three, so I go on one." I replied innocently. Mr. Davenport looked at me.

"There's a sling we can use in the supply closet. Go get it." He ordered. I nodded and ran to get it, grabbing some ice from my drink cooler on the way. He was talking when I got back.

"…How many times have I told you guys not to goof around?" he asked as I walked back in. I helped Adam put his arm in a sling, then handed him the ice pack.

"Brace yourself because this is probably going to shatter your world, but they don't listen to a word you say." I commented. Bree looked at me. "Sorry, except for Bree. Girl power!"

We fist bumped and I sat down at my desk. Mr. Davenport sighed and looked at Chase. "Look, I know this was a freak accident, but he could have seriously been hurt. What if he had landed on his head?"

"It would have popped open, spraying confetti everywhere?" Chase answered. Adam grinned.

"That would be awesome!" he exclaimed. Both boys grinned.

"You know what I mean." Mr. Davenport snapped. Chase sighed and stood up.

"But Mr. Davenport, I wasn't trying to hurt him." Chase argued. "I was trying to get even. Adam is always punching me and throwing me around."

"Yeah, but when I do it, it's funny." Adam told him. Mr. Davenport did not look impressed.

"Adam, it is not funny." He scolded. "If any of you get seriously hurt when I'm not around, all it takes is one X-ray of your bionic chip and you know what happens next."

"Yes. You three," Leo gestured at the lab rats "get shipped off to a government facility, and Big D goes to the big house, and I get a big old mansion all to myself."

"Leo, this is serious." Mr. Davenport snapped.

"Oh come on!" Leo said. "This really can't be the first time Adam has ever gotten hurt."

"No, it really is." Bree told him. "Although there have been some close calls."

"Yeah, like that time I reached under the table and when I stood up I-" Adam ducked under the table and there was a loud thud as he tried to stand up. "Ow! Hey, it was just like that!"

We all sighed at his stupidity. "Look, you're all going to have to start being a lot more careful. You're super-human, but you're not invincible." Mr. Davenport told them seriously.

"Maybe not." Adam agreed. "But I can still do this."

Adam looked at Chase, then swung at him. Chase ducked out of the way as Adam snapped his arm back, grimacing in pain. Chase grinned like a kid on Christmas. "Well great!" Adam complained. "Now Bree's the strongest."

Bree showed off her muscles and we all laughed, with the exception of the very serious Adam and the very offended Chase.

** Bree's POV **

Finally! Some time to myself! I'd been waiting all week to watch the movie Camping Disaster 3 and I'd finally got my chance. Chase and Calla had gone to her house (the latter complaining about a headache and the former wanted to spend time with her), Adam had locked himself up in Mr. Davenport's supply closet for whatever reason, Mr. Davenport was trying to get him out of the supply closet, and Leo was upstairs doing geeky things.

I was about halfway through the movie when Leo came down. "Oh, I love this movie!" Leo exclaimed, jumping over the couch. "Okay, I don't want to spoil it, but he falls off a cliff, those two get married, and that bear is her father is disguise."

I sighed, furious. "Why do you always have to do that?" I demanded.  _"'I'm Leo and I have to ruin everything for everyone.'"_

I froze, as did Leo. That wasn't my voice. That was Leo's. But it was coming out of my mouth. We looked at each other.

"What…did you just…What'd you just do?" Leo's voice turned shrill.

" _I have no idea!"_  I exclaimed, his shrill voice coming out of my mouth again. I slapped my hands over my mouth. We looked at each other, and ran down to the lab.

" _Mr. Davenport!"_  "Big D!" We both screamed. He was standing in front of the supply closet. He turned around, confused.

"Bree just…"  _"I just…and it's freaking me out!"_  "How'd she just…" we tried to explain, but couldn't. Mr. Davenport motioned for us to stop.

"Okay, both of your mouths are moving, but I only hear Leo. Why?" he asked. I took a deep breath.

" _I sort of have a problem!"_  I exclaimed. "I just started talking in his voice and now I can't…hey, my voice is back!" I rubbed my throat gently.

Mr. Davenport frowned. "Sit." He told me. He knocked on the supply closet door. "Adam, if you're dead set against coming out of there, can you at least hand me the handheld X-ray device?"

A small, black device that looked like the handle of a paintbrush slid out from under the door. "Thanks!" Mr. Davenport called before turning to me. He hit a button on the device, and a small screen appeared. I lifted my head so he could get a better X-ray.

"Bree, remember when I told you that strange things might be happening to your bionics?" he asked after a couple of minutes. "Well, it looks like you have uncovered one of your hidden abilities. Either that, or puberty has been very unkind to you."

Leo snickered and I sent him a glare. "It's not funny. This is really freaking me out."

"Freaking you out? You jacked my voice, man!" Leo accused. Mr. Davenport ignored him and turned to me.

"It seems to be some sort of vocal manipulation. Whenever you hear a sound, your bionics manipulate your vocal cords to reproduce the exact same sonic wave length."

"Okay, that's fair. So Chase gets to move stuff with his mind, and I'm a ventriloquist without a dummy." I said sarcastically.

"Look, I'm guessing you will develop a bank of voices and sounds that will come in handy on missions. But until then, do not use it. It's not a toy." Mr. Davenport told me sternly. I waited until he left, then grinned.

" _Right. It's not a toy. And I'm AWESOME!"_  I tested it out. Mr. Davenport's voice came out instead of my own. Cool. Leo laughed.

"You can do him too? This is incredible!" he exclaimed. Then he pulled out his phone and started dialling. "Now say 'My name is Donald Davenport and I'd like to withdraw all m money from this bank.'" I looked at him.

"Not gonna happen Leo." I told him, taking the phone. "But you know what we can do?"

"What?" he asked. I smiled and dialled Chase's number.

"Hey, Leo." Chase greeted. I smirked.

" _Actually, it's Calla. I'm just borrowing Leo's phone because mine is dead."_  I replied, using my best friend's voice. Leo laughed silently.

"Calla?" Chase seemed confused.

" _Yeah, I was wondering…would you like to go out some time? Like tonight maybe?"_  I asked, a smirk on my face. Leo had his hand over his mouth, trying not to give us away. Calla would SO kill us for this when she found out, but it was too good a prank to pass up on.

"Hm? Hold on a second." Chase was distracted for a moment. "Oh, one second, Calla, someone wants to talk to you."

"Leo," the REAL Calla said calmly. "I don't know how you're doing it, but you're going to stop right now. I am NOT in the mood for one of your pranks."

" _Yes m'am."_  I said, using Leo's voice so she wouldn't know it was me.

"Good. Bye!" She hung up the phone. Leo and I looked at each other nervously. She was going to kill us later for sure.

** Chase's POV **

I jogged down the stairs of the school, two at a time. Calla had asked me (face to face because of the whole impersonating incident) if I would help her with the rest of her paper work because she still wasn't feeling too well. So obviously, I had said yes and wanted to meet her at the school library early.

I stopped however, when I saw Adam easing his way down the stairs, holding onto the railing for dear life. "Adam, what are you doing?"

"That accident was a wake up call." He replied. "I never realized how unsafe the world is. Danger lurks in every corner and it uses the stairs to get there."

I sighed as Mrs. Thistle, the very old history teacher, started to walk up the stairs, using the same railing as Adam. "Go around Thistle! I was here first!" Adam exclaimed. Mrs. Thistle looked surprised, but changed railings anyway. Suddenly, an idea dawned on me.

"Wait…" I trailed off, smiling. "If you're suddenly so safety conscious, then I guess you won't be able to run after me if I do this."

I punched him in the shoulder, then ran off. I heard him call from behind me. "Careful! Running down the stairs is dangerous! LIVES ARE AT STAKE HERE!"

"What is Adam yelling about?" Calla asked as I ran up to her. "I could hear him yelling from here."

"He's suddenly afraid of the world." I replied with a grin. "He didn't even try to fight me when I punched him."

"Chase…" I ignored Calla's disapproving tone.

"So, are you feeling any better?" I asked, changing the subject before she could lecture me. She sighed and shook her head.

"No, my head feels like crap. I'd take a sick day, but I want to wait until Perry finds the chicken." She replied.

"Should I even ask?" I questioned, following her into the empty library. Calla smirked.

"Jaden, Trent, and the rest of the football team are having a pranking competition. The one who pulls off the best prank wins." She explained.

"And Jaden's prank had something to do with a chicken?" I guessed. She nodded.

"Raw chicken in Principal Perry's desk. I would have gone with a live one, but it's his prank." I smirked.

"How would you have gotten a live chicken in Principal Perry's desk?" I questioned.

"Oh, you'd be the one putting it in the desk with your telekinesis. I'd just be lookout." She replied as if it was obvious.

"How come I'm always the one you get into trouble?" I asked, not at all against the idea.

"Because you're my sidekick, duh." Calla told me as the librarian walked over to us and told us to be quiet or get out. I smiled. Maybe being her sidekick wasn't such a bad position.

** Calla's POV **

"Have you lost your mind?" Chase demanded. I looked up to see him and his siblings walk through the door. They'd gone on a mission right after school, but should have been back more than an hour ago.

"You're being ridiculous!" Bree exclaimed. It took me a moment to realize that they were yelling at Adam.

"No, I'm not!" Adam replied. Mr. Davenport looked at me for an explanation, but I shrugged. I had absolutely no clue what this was about.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What's going on?" Mr. Davenport asked, walking over to them.

"Our mission mother here is so obsessed with safety that he almost jeopardized the entire operation." Bree explained.

"He wouldn't pitch in, he second guessed everything I said, and look what he did to our mission suits." Chase said, turning around. On the back of his and Bree's mission suits were large, blinking, red triangles. I looked at Adam.

"Really?" I asked. He shrugged.

"Well, what was I supposed to do? They wouldn't wear their safety hats!" he exclaimed before pulling an orange traffic cone out from his bag and putting it on his head.

"Adam, there is nothing wrong with being cautious." Mr. Davenport told him. "But if you're too cautious, you'll over think things and you won't be able to complete your mission."

"Oh, so if I'm not careful, I could get hurt, but if I'm too careful, I'm useless." Adam sounded far too serious. Mr. Davenport nodded, not noticing his tone.

"Exactly." Adam stood up.

"Great. No matter what I do, I'm either hurting myself or the team." He said. Mr. Davenport was about to object, but Adam didn't give him the chance. "I'm not going to be responsible for this. I'm not going on anymore missions."

"What?" we all asked, confused.

"Adam, what are you saying?" Mr. Davenport questioned.

"I'm saying I quit!" Just to prove his point, he ripped off his uniform and sling. He then walked upstairs, wearing nothing but his boxers and a muscle shirt.

** Chase's POV **

After the mission, Calla had a bunch of papers to fill out. I decided to stay and help her.

"I can't believe Adam says he's quitting." I complained. "What a baby."

"He's had his confidence rattled." Calla replied. "It's kind of like when a baseball player gets hit by the pitch and is afraid to step up to the plate again."

"He'll get over it." I brushed it off. "Besides, it's fun making him flinch for once."

Suddenly, Calla put down her pencil and looked at me. "Chase, I've got a question for you."

"Shoot." I smiled at her.

"It's the best friend's job to call someone out when they screw up, right?" she asked to my surprise. "Like how I call Adam out when he crosses a line with you, or when Leo cheated on that physics test last week."

"Yes, of course." I agreed. What was this about? She nodded.

"Good." There was a long silence. Then, "Chase, you're a jerk."

"What?" Usually, I could follow people's train of thought. Calla however, was a complete mystery on some days. "Jerk?"

"Yes." Calla replied with a smile. "Not usually, but lately."

"How am I being a jerk?" I demanded.

"Have you seen the way you've been treating Adam?" Calla countered.

"So? He always treats me like that!" Calla crossed her arms.

"So you're saying that you should stoop to his level. I thought you were better than that." She said.

"I am!" I protested. She didn't look convinced. "So, I'm getting a little payback. What's the big deal?"

"Big deal?" Calla repeated. "You're essentially kicking a puppy while it's down, Chase!"

"I am not!" I objected. Calla looked at me.

"Yes, you are. Adam, for probably the first time in his life, is scared and vulnerable and you're taking advantage of it!" she exclaimed. "That's cruel!"

"Calla-" I started, but she sent me a glare.

"Listen." she told me. "Put yourself in Adam's shoes. Imagine if, for whatever reason, you lost all your self-confidence. Imagine you were terrified of something or hurt emotionally, like he is. Would you want him picking on you, and using that weakness against you?"

"No." I mumbled. Calla nodded.

"No." she agreed. "So, because that's exactly what you've been doing, you're going to fix him."

"What got you so concerned about Adam?" I asked. Calla was a caring person, when she wanted to be, but she usually stayed out of any fights between Adam and I.

"A, I'm more concerned about my best friend becoming a jackass. And B, Davenport told me to fix him, so now I'm telling you to fix him." She replied. I smirked.

"I can't do all your work for you." I muttered. Calla looked at me.

"No, and I'm not asking you to do all of it for me. But I think that Adam might listen to you because you're his brother and you know what it's like to be hurt." She replied, a little annoyed at what I said. I opened my mouth to say something, but she was on a roll. "And, if he stops going on missions, we, as a unit, are in trouble. We need him as much as we need you and Bree."

"Yeah, but if I start building up his confidence again, I'm just going to go back to being his personal punching bag." I argued. Calla crossed her arms.

"Or maybe now that knows what it's like to be picked on, he'll treat you better." I stared at her.

"Yeah, I don't know if you've noticed, but Adam isn't the best at learning…things." Calla looked at me sternly and we had a bit of a staring contest. Eventually I gave in.

"Okay, fine! I'll talk to him." She smiled.

"Good. I thought I'd have to blackmail you into doing it." She grinned.

"You don't have any blackmail on me." I said. She didn't answer, but her smile grew. "Uh, you don't have blackmail on me, right?"

"Let's hope you never find out the answer to that." She replied before standing up and walking out with her papers.

** xxx **

"Adam, did you put a seat belt on the toilet?" I asked, walking into the kitchen later that day. Adam was wearing a protective vest, elbow pads, oven mitts, and safety goggles. He nodded.

"Yep." He replied. "And in the unlikely event of a bathtub overflow, the bathmat may be used as a floatation device."

Instead of calling him an idiot right on the spot, I decided to figure out what was up with his outfit first. "What are you wearing?"

"Safety suit. You can never be too safe when you're making toast." He said, pulling down the goggles. I sighed as Adam gently picked up the slices of bread one by one, and turn on the toaster.

"Adam, this is ridiculous!" I exclaimed. "Life is about getting hurt. I get hurt all the time, but I don't go over board and quit."

"Yeah, but you're supposed to het hurt. I'm a huge, muscular, beastly man; for me it's just unnatural." Adam replied. I tried my best to ignore that comment.

"Look, you can't quit the team. Without you, Bee and I can't do it. We need your strength and your…strength." I told him.

"Sorry Chase, I made up my mind. Hey, you know the saying. There is no me in team." He said seriously. Suddenly, the toast finished.

"Ooh!" Adam grinned and took a bite. "There. I've successfully made toast and avoided injury, all thanks to my…" He tapped the suit and an orange and white floatation device burst from the suit, surrounding his neck and face. I smiled in amusement.

"…safety suit."

** Bree's POV **

"For the last time Leo! No!" I exclaimed. Leo had been bugging me all day, begging for me to use my vocal manipulation for his own personal profit.

"But-" I stopped him when I saw Rebeccka and Jessica walk by.

"Fine. I'll use it." I said, ducking behind him.  _"Hi, I'm Leo Dooley and that horrible stench you're smelling is me. Can I have a hug?"_

I pushed Leo towards them, and they stared at him, disgusted. "That's not true." Leo said. "I take a bath everyday. Sniff me; that's Hibiscus waterfalls."

Becky and Jessie looked at him, then walked away. Suddenly, Principal Perry stormed out of her office. "Alright, who put a raw chicken in my desk?" she demanded. "Joke's on you; an old deli accident left me immune to salmonella." She tossed the raw chicken at one of the students. Leo looked at me.

"Bree, you HAVE to imitate Principal Perry!" Leo exclaimed.

"No way. I'm not even supposed to be using this ability in the first place." I replied. Leo grinned.

"Come on! This is too good to pass up. Do it!" I sighed.

"Okay, fine. But this is the last time." I gave in.

"Attention students," Principal Perry announced ** _._** _"I have an important announcement. I'm a leprechaun."_

The hall burst into snickers and giggles, mostly hidden behind our hands. Principal Perry looked around.

"Hey, who said that?" she demanded. "It's not true. I just like to run after rainbows."

Most people laughed out loud this time.

" _I also have six toes on one foot."_  I continued.

"It's not a sixth toe! It's an overgrown bunion and it gives me the balance of a low laying gorilla." Principal Perry argued. Everyone burst out laughing. "I don't know who's doing this, but when I catch you, you're gonna pay."

I couldn't help it.  _"But not with me gold coins."_

Principal Perry stormed off, leaving the rest of us laughing in the hall. But I wasn't laughing for long, because just then, somebody asked me a question. "How'd you do that?"

Leo and I spun around to see Jaden, Calla's older brother standing there. He looked at us curiously. "Well?"

"Well what?" I asked, nervously. Jaden frowned.

"How'd you imitate Principal Perry like that?" he repeated. "It was awesome!"

"I…well…" I panicked. Stupid! I should have been more careful! And to Jaden of all people too! If he confronted his sister about this, I wasn't sure if she'd be able to lie convincingly enough to him.

"Bree?" he asked.

" _Well, I'm not-school bell sound-really sure-alarm sound-what you want me to say-birds chirping-at this extremely-wolf howling-awkward-moment."_  I said, imitating Calla, Chase, Adam, Mr. Davenport, Leo and Principal Perry in one sentence. Jaden frowned.

"I'm sorry, but what? How did you do that?" he asked, clearly confused. Leo was staring at me, mouth wide. Luckily, Calla unknowingly covered for me.

"Jay!" she called, running over. "Oh, hey Bree." She turned to her brother. "Listen, there's an emergency down at the field. I just got a text and apparently, the soccer team set your jerseys on fire or something, and there's about to be a fight. You need to break it up!"

"But, Cal, I'm in the middle…okay, I'm coming!" Calla started to drag the older boy forcibly down the hall. "Talk to you later, Bree!"

Leo walked over to me. "What was that?" he demanded.

"I got so nervous when Jaden busted me that I glitched!" I exclaimed. "Thank God Calla came by when she did."

"Don't thank God, thank me!" Leo snapped. "I sent Calla that text."

"Oh. Thanks Leo." I sighed in relief. That was way too close.

** Calla's POV **

"I can't believe you tricked me like that." Jaden muttered. I sighed and looked at him from the passenger seat. Jaden had been kind enough to offer me a ride to work for once, so naturally, I knew he wanted to talk to me about something.

"Hey, I didn't trick you, Leo tricked me!" I snapped. Stupid Leo…

"Hey, by the way, did you see what your friend Bree did?" Jaden asked casually. I shook my head.

"No, what?" I asked. Jaden frowned.

"I'm not sure how, but she did a perfect imitation of Principal Perry today in the hall. And I mean, it was dead on. And then she made a bunch of different noises and imitations. It was weird." I froze for a moment. She must have used her vocal manipulation and Jaden caught her. That's why Leo texted me that lie about the football jerseys; to distract Jaden.

"Seriously? Mr. Davenport's not going to be pleased that she borrowed the prototype." I commented, thinking quickly. Jaden glanced at me.

"What prototype?" he asked.

"Oh, Mr. Davenport designed a voice replicator for animation purposes. It's still full of glitches, but Bree must have borrowed it anyway." I lied. Jaden frowned, but seemed to buy it.

"Really?" he asked. "Sounds cool."

"It is." I tried to act excited about the non-existent device. "We kept prank calling each other. Hell, Bree even prank called Leo's grandma with it. Speaking of grandmas, isn't Gram's birthday in a couple of weeks?"

"Yeah, so?" Jaden asked. I smiled.

"Well, don't we have to buy her something?" I asked, changing the subject. "I totally forgot."

"Wanna head to the mall after school tomorrow?" Jaden suggested. I nodded.

"Sure, why not?" I said just as Jaden pulled into the Davenport's driveway. "Thanks for the ride, Jay!" I called, hopping out. I headed inside and immediately saw Bree and Leo talking to Mr. Davenport.

"I didn't realize he was there and then I just glitched!" Bree explained frantically. I cleared my throat, making my presence known.

"You guys talking about my brother?" I asked, crossing my arms. Mr. Davenport nodded.

"Yes. He-" I cut him off.

"He saw Bree using her vocal manipulation. I know." I sent a glare at Bree. "You know I hate lying to my brother's face like that."

"Please tell me that you covered for me." Bree begged. I sighed.

"Yeah, I saved your ass. Oh, and if Jaden asks, Mr. Davenport designed a prototype voice replicator for movie animation and you borrowed it today to test it out." I told her. Mr. Davenport smiled at me.

"Nice job Calla." I grinned and looked at Leo.

"Flaming football jerseys. Nice excuse." I commended as Chase walked into the room. Mr. Davenport and I walked over to him.

"How'd your talk with Adam go?" I asked. "Is he ready to get back on the horse?"

"I keep trying, but whenever I say the word horse, he runs out of the room because he's scared he's going to get kicked." I frowned in confusion. Mr. Davenport looked at me.

"I though I told  _you_  to fix Adam, not Chase." He said. I nodded.

"Yeah, but Chase is the one that hurt him, Chase is the one that keeps picking on him, and Chase is his brother, so if Adam will listen to anyone, it'll be Chase." Mr. Davenport looked at me, not following my logic. But he didn't bother trying to understand it.

"Alright, clearly logic is not going to work." He said after a moment. "So we're going to have to result to some good old fashioned trickery."

Chase and I nodded. ""Let's put our heads together and come up with a way to outsmart Adam." He said. Half a second later, we looked at each other.

"Done."

** Chase's POV **

"This is stupid." Calla said for the fifth time since we'd told her my idea. I was standing inside the capsule, while she and Mr. Davenport sat by the consol.

"Why do you think it's so stupid?" I demanded.

"He's never going to believe it. You guys are TERRIBLE actors." She replied. I smirked.

"Like you're any better." I retorted. She stood up and glared at me half-heartedly.

"I'm better than you!" she snapped, a laugh in her voice. Mr. Davenport looked at us.

"He's coming!" he hissed. He and Calla ran to the front of the capsule and started to pretend it was locked as Adam walked in, reading a magazine.

"Adam! Thank goodness you're here!" Calla cried. Adam looked up from his magazine.

"There's an emergency. The operating system in Chase's capsule in malfunctioning." Mr. Davenport explained. I pretended to be out of air.

"Oh no." Maybe Calla was right about us being bad actors. "I'm trapped in my capsule! I can't get out. I sure hope I don't asphyxiate in here." Adam looked confused. "And stop breathing."

"Adam, you have to break open the door!" Calla shouted. Adam smirked and sat down

"Yeah, nice try guys. I know a prank when I see one. If this were real, Chase would be screaming and gasping for air, like when I use him to clean the toilet." Adam didn't buy it for a second. Calla sighed and backed away from the capsule.

"Come on out Chase." She said, almost a little smug that she was right. I went to push the door open, but suddenly, the capsule turned red and the temperature went up by at least a hundred degrees.

"Mr. Davenport?" I asked as steam started blowing from the top of the capsule. It was like all the air in the tube suddenly dissipated. I started banging on the locked capsule door.

"Adam! You're foot turned on the heat sanitizer!" Mr. Davenport exclaimed, noticing that Adam had put his feet up on the consol. "That thing gets up to 200 hundred degrees!"

I started gasping and spluttering for air that just wouldn't come. I hit the door as hard as I could. "I really can't breathe! Get me out!" I put all my weight on the door as Calla and Mr. Davenport tried to pry it open, but it wouldn't budge.

Black dots started to swim across my vision as I tried to breath and I felt my consciousness slipping. The sounds of Calla and Mr. Davenport lowered in volume as I fell against the back of the capsule, my eyes closing.

Just as I started drifting into the darkness, there was a shout, the sound of shattering glass, and I was suddenly being lifted into the air. I didn't mind though, because cool, cool air entered my lungs again. I was dropped on the floor a few seconds later. Groaning, I opened my eyes and let Mr. Davenport hoist me to my feet. He helped me sit on one of the chairs, Calla sitting behind me and rubbing my back to gets the air flowing through my lungs.

"Are you okay?" Mr. Davenport demanded. I nodded, not trusting my voice.

"Wait, so you three set this whole thing and Chase almost turned into a smore?" Adam demanded. I looked at him. "Yeah, and I'm the dumb one."

Calla smirked. "He has a point." She commented, still rubbing my back. She didn't need to anymore, I could breathe with ease again, but I certainly wasn't going to complain.

"Adam, you just used your super strength to shatter an unbreakable capsule and fear never entered your mind." I told him as Calla's hands dropped to her lap.

"Yeah, I wasn't thinking about getting hurt. I wasn't thinking at all." Like usual, I thought to myself.

"Adam, all this time you've been living in fear, and when you didn't have time to think, you just got the job done." Mr. Davenport told him. Adam grinned.

"Wow! That's it! From now on, I just need to spend my whole life not thinking!"

Calla, Mr. Davenport and I exchanged looks. "Absolutely." We agreed. I stood up.

"So, you're back on missions?" I asked hopefully. Adam nodded.

"I guess I am! Whoo-hoo!" He cheered.

"I'm glad that worked out." Mr. Davenport said. "And I think you've both learned a valuable lesson today. No more horse play." He looked at us sternly.

"Got it." We agreed. Calla looked at me.

"I told you that was a stupid idea." She gestured at the capsule. I crossed my arms and looked at her.

"Your idea involved a burning house and a baby." I reminded her. She rolled her eyes.

"It was a FAKE baby." She corrected, walking away.

"Can we still do that?" Adam looked at me hopefully.


	4. A Cheating Cheater

** Calla's POV **

"Stupid doctor's appointment." I muttered under my breath as I ran into the school. The bells for lunch were going to ring any minute. Usually, I'd be cool with missing a class, but I wanted to check out the new kids. A couple of weeks ago, there'd been a fire at Welkerville High. Nearly half the school had been burned down. Luckily, no one got hurt. But all the students that went to the school had been split between all the high schools in Mission Creek, Seaford, and Castleman.

Anyway, new kids usually meant that my guy-obsessed friends (Bree and Rebeccka in particular) would be crushing on them for a LONG time. And I was usually the one to set them up with the 'perfect guy'. Which was stupid, considering I hadn't dated anyone in months. The reason behind it; the one guy I liked still hadn't asked me out yet. And it was driving me crazy!

It was probably stupid of me to keep waiting like that. I thought he liked me, but we were probably too close as friends for him to consider me datable. Unfortunately, the friend-zone isn't only for guys.

I sighed and grabbed my lunch and phone out of my bag, then dumped the rest of my stuff in my locker. I sent a quick text to Bree.

** To: Bree **

** Yo, I just got here. Any cute guys among the newbies? **

"Well, it depends on your definition of cute." I spun around at the sound of the voice behind me. I crossed my arms, glaring at the boy who had been reading over my shoulder.

"What do you want, Caleb?" I demanded.

Caleb had grown since I last saw him. He was about Adam's height, with short, slightly messy brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. He smirked, his pearly whites gleaming in the sun.

"I wanted to talk to you, Cals." I rolled my eyes at the nickname. I hated it before, and I hated it now.

"Don't call me Cals, and I don't want to talk to you, so buzz off." I replied shortly, turning away from him. Caleb sighed.

"Alright, Calla then. But please, can't we just talk? Give me five minutes." He requested.

"Nope. See ya." I told him. He put his hand on top of me, stopping me from shutting my locker.

"Babe, please." He begged. I sent him a glare.

"Don't you dare call me babe either!" I snarled. "I dumped you! We're over! What part of that don't you understand?"

"Calla…" Caleb looked upset, but I didn't give a damn.

"What the hell are you doing here anyway?" I demanded as the bell rang for lunch. "Did you get tired of me not responding to your texts or not answering the phone when you call?"

"I go to school here now." Caleb replied quickly. I stared at him.

"No, you don't. You go to…Welkerville High. Damn." I cursed. I slammed my locker door, ripping my hand away from Caleb. "Right, well, leave me alone."

"Just let me explain." Caleb pleaded. People were beginning to stare at this point, curious as to why we were arguing. I crossed my arms.

"Two minutes." I growled through clenched teeth.

"Look, I know there's nothing I can say that will get you not to hate me, but I'm sorry. I was an idiotic, self-absorbed dumbass who made a mistake." He told me, shame written all over his face.

"Well, no change there." I muttered. Caleb didn't notice.

"I shouldn't have done what I did, and I know I hurt you and I'm so, so sorry. It was an idiotic, thoughtless mistake and I would never do that to you again. I know that you hate me, but can you please, PLEASE forgive me?" Caleb looked at me hopefully. I stared at him.

"Forgive you?" I repeated. He nodded. "I-Caleb…no! Faith is my cousin, for God's sake! You can't date two girls at the same time and not expect one of them not to find out. So no, I can't, won't and shan't forgive you!"

** Chase's POV **

"So, what do you think about the new kids?" Bree asked as we walked into the school lobby.

"They're okay." I replied. Bree grinned.

"Have you seen some of the guys? They're really cute!" she started talking about one of them, a kid named Ty, who was in her art class. I tuned her out, like I usually did when she talked about guys she liked, and started looking for someone non-guy obsessed to talk to.

My eyes drifted to Calla's locker and I frowned. She was standing by it, her arms crossed and a look of annoyance on her face. She was talking to a guy I had never seen before. It looked like he was trying to convince Calla of something and she wanted no part in it.

"Who's that?" I asked, interrupting Bree. She followed my gaze.

"Caleb Jones. He's in my math class." She replied, confusion in her tone. "He's only been here for three periods. How did he manage to piss of Calla so quickly?"

"Wait, Jones? As in Jones Pizza?" It was the biggest pizza franchise in California. Bree nodded.

"Yeah, I think so." She said as we walked over to Calla and Caleb. I caught the last bit of their conversation.

"So no, I can't, won't and shan't forgive you!" Calla exclaimed.

"Shan't? Since when do you use the word shan't?" I asked. Calla and Caleb looked at us. Calla smiled at me, but I could tell it was forced.

"Since now. And I'm hungry, so let's go. Goodbye, Caleb." She grabbed Bree and my wrists and dragged us down the hall to the cafeteria. I exchanged a look with Bree. What got Calla in such a hissy mood? She let go of our wrists as we entered the cafeteria and stormed off to where Adam and Leo were sitting. We sat next to her, but didn't say anything. A few minutes later, Calla relaxed.

"What happened?" Bree asked. Calla shook her head.

"Nothing." She muttered.

"Cal." I looked at her. She sighed. "Who was that guy?"

"His name's Caleb. We used to go out." She replied. Leo frowned.

"I'm sorry, but what's going on? You just came in here all pissed off and now some ex-boyfriend's being brought into it? I'm confused." He said. Calla sighed.

"Caleb used to go to Welkerville High, but transferred here because of the fire and he thought it was the perfect opportunity to try and win me back." She replied. Bree nodded.

"Why'd you guys break up?" she asked. Calla picked at her lunch. It was her favourite, lasagne and salad, but she didn't look like she was going to eat it at all.

"You remember my cousin Faith?" she asked. I nodded; Calla had dragged me to Faith's birthday party because it was Star Wars themed and she had a plus one and the only other choice she had was Leo. "Turns out he was her boyfriend too. I didn't find out until about four months after he started dating Faith."

"Oh." Bree grimaced, sympathy on her face. Calla just scowled.

"Look, can we just drop it? Caleb's just a cheating cheater that cheats. Now, what did I miss this morning in class?" she asked impatiently.

"Umm…" I trailed off. "We had a test today in science on light refraction and reflections. It was easy though."

"Hey, Calla?" Adam asked suddenly. She looked at him, and then smirked.

"You want my lunch, don't you?" she guessed. He nodded, grinning. She shook her head and slid the food container over to him.

"Knock yourself out." She told him, smirking. He beamed and took the lunch, shovelling half of it into his mouth. Calla laughed.

"Adam, use a fork!" she giggled, seeming to have forgotten all about Caleb.

** Xxx **

"Thank God school is over!" Calla exclaimed, skipping out onto the grass. I laughed, following her. As much as I loved school, I had to admit, even I hated last period Spanish. I had downloaded a Spanish app a long time ago and Calla's Aunt Lauren was Spanish and had taught Calla the language when she was a little kid so it was boring for both of us. Last week, I actually slept through an entire class. Calla had to bring me my homework.

"Hey Calla! Oh, hey Chase." Jaden called, running up to us.

"What's up?" Calla asked, smiling at her older brother. He shrugged.

"Not sure, but you remember James from the police department?" he asked. Calla nodded, frowning.

"Yeah, I think I met him when Mom made me bring Christmas cookies to the department. He's the funny one with the moustache, right?" she asked. Jaden nodded.

"Yeah, he said that there was an emergency down at the bank and that Mom's gonna be late." He replied. Calla looked at him, then at me.

"What is up with people robbing banks? I mean, seriously! Don't they realize that they're gonna get caught? There's all that security for a reason, you know!" she exclaimed. I smirked, but the smile fell off my face when I saw Caleb jogging over to us.

"Hey Calla." She rolled her eyes and turned away, ignoring him. It had been three days since he'd transferred to our school and I knew he'd been getting on Calla's nerves. He was getting on my nerves too, and judging by the glare Jaden was giving him, Caleb was widely disliked.

"Come on, Calla. I'm sorry." He tried once again to apologize. I was about to tell him to walk away when the sound of sirens hit my ears.

"Whatever, Caleb." She replied coldly. "Come on Jay, let's go home. I'll see you in an hour, Chase."

Calla stepped up onto the curve, shouldering her backpack just as the sirens got louder, loud enough for everyone to hear. Calla turned to us, frowning.

"Looks like we're on our own for dinner, bro. What do you think? Pizza or…" I saw the van at the same time as Jay and Caleb. It took me a second to realize that it was swerving uncontrollably and another to realize that the driver was going to hit the sidewalk, which meant hitting Calla, whose back was turned.

"Calla, watch out!" Caleb leapt and tackled Calla to the ground just as the car swerved onto the sidewalk. Jaden and I stumbled back onto the grass as the driver sped along the sidewalk, two police cars chasing after him. I looked at the cars, then at Jaden, before we both jumped to our feet. We bolted over to Calla and Caleb.

Caleb was still leaning over Calla protectively, both of them still staring at the sidewalk with shocked, wide eyes. Luckily, neither one of them seemed to be injured. "Calla, are you alright? That thing would have killed you!"

That seemed to snap them both out of whatever shock they were in. They looked at each other, blushed deeply, and Caleb stumbled off of her. He offered Calla his hand, and to my surprise, she took it. He helped her to her feet.

"Calla?" Jaden looked at his sister worriedly. "You okay?"

"Y-yeah. I'm f-fine." She replied, still staring at the spot where she had previously stood. She looked at Caleb. "Y-You saved my life."

"Are you sure you're alright?" Caleb asked, cupping her face in his hand and searching her face for any sign of injuries. She nodded, not bothering to tell him to let go of her.

"I'm okay…thanks to you." She looked at him and I couldn't help but feel slightly pissed. Not with Calla, but with myself. I should have realized earlier. I should have been the one to save her. I should have been faster. If Caleb hadn't been there, Calla would have been killed. And it would have been my fault for not realizing sooner.

** Calla's POV **

"I can't believe you nearly got hit by that maniac!" My mom exclaimed, looking me over for injuries as I sat on the kitchen counter. I glared at my brother, who sat on a chair behind her. The first thing he did when Mom got home was tell her about the incident. She had been inspecting me and interrogating me for the past half hour and I blamed Jaden for the needless torture. Obviously, I was fine. Caleb had made sure of that.

"Did you guys get him at least?" Jaden asked finally. My mom spared him a glance before going back to me.

"Yes, but it was close. He almost got away with three thousand dollars." Wow. That was a lot. My mom frowned. "He would have too, if he hadn't had problems with the van."

"Problems?" I questioned. "What sort of problems?"

"His brakes randomly locked up. That's why he swerved. No clue how it happened." My mom replied, frowning. I shrugged.

"Well, unless you're going to insist on me going to the emergency room, I'm heading to my room." I said, hopping off the kitchen counter. My mom opened her mouth to say something, but I cut her off. "Mom, I'm fine and I'm not going to the emergency room. Plus, I have work tonight and I'd really like to get that pay check so I can get a new backpack. Not to mention, my phone has vibrated eight times in the past half hour and people tend to get annoyed if you don't reply to their texts and calls."

My mom sighed, and waved her hand, dismissing me. I grinned and headed to my room, collapsing onto my bed with a sigh. I pulled out my phone and checked my messages.

Five of them (from Adam, Bree, Kaitlin, Rebeccka, and Jessica) read the same thing:  **R U alright?**

Two of them were from Leo. Text #1:  **U OK?**  That was sweet, except the second text ruined it. Text #2:  **If you're dead, can I have your laptop?**

I decided not to reply to that for a while. There was a text from Caleb that simply read:  **Call me please**. He always preferred to talk over the phone than text. I fiddled with the phone in my hands, trying to decide what to do about Caleb.

Honestly, although I pretended like I didn't give a damn, it had hurt when I found out about him and Faith. And I couldn't blame her because she didn't know about Caleb and I. But it had been a while, and he really did seem to regret what happened. And he DID save my life. Maybe I could give him a second chance…

I dialled the number without anymore hesitation. Caleb picked up on the second ring.

" _Jones residence, Caleb speaking."_  I rolled my eyes at his formalness.

"Hey Caleb, it's Calla." I greeted.

" _Calla!"_  I could hear the relief in his tone.  _"I wasn't sure if you would actually call or not."_

"What's up?" I asked, rolling over to lie on my stomach.

" _I wanted to make sure you were okay after today. You looked pretty shaken up earlier."_  I smiled at his concern. It was sweet.

"Yeah, well, I don't usually get tackled to the ground by a cute boy because a bank robber tried to kill me. That type of excitement takes some time to get used to." I laughed. He chuckled.

" _Fair enough."_  He agreed. I sighed.

"Listen, Caleb. Maybe I was a little too harsh before. I mean, everyone deserves a second chance, right?" I said carefully.

" _Do you really mean it?"_  he asked, a little surprised.

"I never say anything I don't mean. Unless you ask me about my mom's meatloaf. Then I'll tell you that it's great." I replied. Caleb laughed. "But yes, I really do mean it."

" _Great!"_  Caleb exclaimed.  _"Hey, I've got an idea that I think you might like."_

"What is it?" I asked, his enthusiasm contagious.

" _Well, my parents are out of town this weekend."_  he told me.  _"And I'm throwing a party Saturday night at the community center."_

"Sounds fun." I replied.

" _It'll be awesome. So, you want to come? Your group of friends, um…Bree, Chase, and their two siblings can come too if they want."_  My eyes lit up at the suggestion.

"Yeah, I'll ask them later. I work for their dad, so I'll be able to talk to them tonight."

" _Cool."_  Caleb seemed like he was putting a real effort into trying to make me happy. I knew that he and Chase disliked each other for whatever reason, but he was still inviting him.  _"I'll see you tomorrow then."_

"Yeah, see you." I hung up the phone and smiled. I couldn't wait to tell Bree and the boys.

** Chase's POV **

"You're joking, right?" I stared at Calla as she typed one of the mission reports on her laptop. A, she was now going out with that idiot, Caleb. B, she wanted us all to go to a party at his place on Saturday night. Was she nuts?

Calla looked a little offended. "Um, no Chase, I'm not. I'm completely serious."

"Are you sure about Caleb?" Bree asked. Calla nodded and Bree smiled. "Good, I'm in."

"Sounds fun." Adam agreed. Leo nodded.

"As long as there's pizza." He grinned. I looked at Calla.

"Count me out." I muttered. Calla looked at me and my siblings discreetly left the room, knowing that an argument was on the way.

"Okay, what's eating you?" Calla questioned, closing her laptop. I shrugged.

"It's nothing." I lied. Calla crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at me. "I just don't think you should be going out with Caleb."

"Why not?" Calla demanded.

"Haven't you ever heard the saying 'once a cheater, always a cheater'?" I asked her. She glared at me.

"People make mistakes, you know." She retorted. "Unlike you, we're not all perfect."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not perfect." I replied. She snorted in amusement.

"Oh, really? You sure act like you are." She exclaimed in frustration. I ignored that.

"Calla, he's a stupid, self-absorbed, snobby rich kid!" I exclaimed. Calla looked at me, then laughed darkly. "What's so funny?" I demanded.

"What's so funny is that you're saying that! Of all people!" she laughed. I glared at her.

"I'm not stupid-" she cut me off before I could finish.

"But you are self absorbed and rich." She snapped before mocking me. " _'Look at me, I'm Chase! I'm the smarter than everyone else and everyone needs to know that!'_ "

"I do not act like that." I grumbled. Calla looked at me angrily.

"Yes, you do. You act like everyone is below you because they're not super geniuses." She snapped. Then she sighed. "I thought you were my friend, Chase. Caleb is the first guy I actually like that's asked me out in a long time. I thought you'd be happy for me. No, I thought you could be mature enough to pretend to be happy for me, even if you aren't. I guess I was wrong."

"I am your friend." I told her. "But as your friend, I'm telling you that he's no good. He's just going to hurt you again."

Calla shook her head in anger. "You don't get it, Chase. Yes, he made a mistake. But I'm giving him a second chance and he's not going to blow it."

"Calla…" she stood up suddenly, and grabbed her bag and laptop.

"I'm outta here." She said simply before storming off. I got up to follow her, but decided against it. If she wanted to date that loser, fine. But when he hurt her, she had better not come crying to me.

** Calla's POV **

"Good morning." I greeted happily as Caleb walked over to me. He grinned and leaned down and kissed me on the lips.

"Aww." Bree cooed. Caleb smiled, pulling away.

"Hey, Bree." He greeted. It'd been three days since we'd gotten back together and Caleb had been hanging out with the guys so I wouldn't have to choose between my friends and my boyfriend. Bree and Adam liked him right off the bat, while Leo was indifferent and Chase…well, Chase was being difficult.

Caleb sat down in the desk next to me, Bree sitting behind him and Adam behind me. Leo was late because of a dentist appointment and Chase was sitting across the room. Caleb barely glanced at him.

"You two still fighting?" he guessed. I nodded.

"I don't understand why he can't just grow up." I replied. Caleb frowned.

"You don't?" he asked in confusion. I shook my head. "Babe, he's jealous."

"Jealous?" I echoed. "Why would he be jealous?"

"Because we're going out." Caleb replied as if it was obvious. I frowned.

"Yeah, but it's not like he likes me." I said dismissively. Caleb gave me a look. "If he did, he would have done something about it a long time ago."

"I assumed that he did." Caleb sounded confused again. "I just figured that you rejected him."

"Why would you say that?" I asked.

"Well, he obviously likes you, but he's not really your type." For whatever reason, I felt like I should defend Chase. But I didn't. Bree looked at Caleb.

"I can't wait until tonight's party." She told him, grinning. "Thanks for inviting us."

"No problem. The more, the merrier, right? Are all of you coming?" he asked, looking at Chase. Bree shrugged.

"Adam, Leo and I are. Chase, probably not." She replied. Caleb nodded.

"Okay, cool." He replied. I sighed. I had wanted Chase to come, but now, I wasn't too sure if I was going to talk to him for a while, let alone be friends with the idiot.

** Xxx **

"Caleb, this is amazing!" I grinned, looking around. Caleb had decorated the community center with streamers and balloons. Music was blasting out of the speakers and strobe lights were flashing everywhere I looked. He grinned in response.

"Well Cals, when I throw a party, I throw a party." He replied. The party was set to start in ten minutes, but most of people had arrived half an hour before.

"Wicked party dude!" Adam exclaimed behind me. We turned to see him, Bree, Leo and surprisingly, Chase. I looked at him, then Bree. She smirked.

"I forced him." She whispered. I smirked. Of course she did. Why else would the stubborn idiot be here?

"What are we waiting for?" Adam asked after a minute. "Let's go party!"

I laughed as he and Caleb pulled us into the house. The party was pretty cool, like usual. Caleb used to bring me as his date to a lot of parties when we went out before.

A few hours later, the party was going strong. Leo was dancing on top of a table, Jessica was flirting with Adam and he was flirting back, Bree was dancing with a guy she liked named Owen, and even Chase looked like he was enjoying himself. And of course, I had Caleb with me.

"This is great." Caleb said grinning. I nodded.

"I know, right? You should throw parties more often." Caleb nodded, then looked at me.

"Hey, I'll be right back, okay? I need to go take care of something." He told me. I nodded and let go of his hand as he jogged off. I watched as he said something to Bree, and then gestured to the kitchen. She nodded and followed him out there. I frowned; what could that be about?

** Bree's POV **

"Why did you want to talk to me?" I asked as I followed Caleb into the kitchen. He shrugged, turning to face me.

"You look hot, Bree." He told me. I looked at him in confusion. I knew that the dress I was wearing was pretty, but why would he tell me that?

"…thanks." I replied, feeling a little uncomfortable as he stepped closer to me. I tried to step back, only to hit the fridge behind me.

"I mean it, Bree. You look better than anyone else here." He leaned in to kiss me, but I raised my hand over his face, stopping him.

"What are you doing?" I demanded. "Calla's your girlfriend! And my best friend!"

"Bree, Calla's not here right now, is she? Now come on, don't say you don't want to." He grabbed my waist and pressed his lips on mine, but I pushed him as hard as I could before the kiss deepened.

"No! How could you think I would…" I trailed off as I caught sight of something that made my heart drop. Calla.

She stood in the kitchen's door way, staring at us. Her mouth was open as if she was about to say something, her eyes hurt and shocked. The betrayal on her face was the worst part of the look she gave us. We all stared at each other and I realized how this must look; Caleb, with his arms around my waist and us barely a foot apart.

"Calla…I can explain." Caleb said calmly, stepping towards her. She stumbled backwards, away from him. She pressed her lips together, shook her head slowly, and ran off. I looked at Caleb, then ran after her. But I soon lost her in the crowds of people.

"Calla!" I called, searching for her everywhere I could think of. It wasn't her that answered, but my brothers.

"Hey, Bree. What's going on?" Chase asked. Adam grinned.

"Owen was looking for you." He told me. I ignored him.

"Have you two seen Calla?" I demanded. They both shook their heads, frowning. "Damn it!"

"Why? What's wrong?" Chase asked. I looked at him.

"Caleb…he…he tried to kiss me, well he DID kiss me, but I didn't want him to. And, well, Calla saw something, and I'm not sure how much." I explained. Chase clenched his teeth and a dangerous look crossed his face. For a second, I was worried that his commando app had turned on.

"Adam, you  _deal_  with Caleb." He growled, in his own voice rather than Spike's. "I'll go find Calla."

Adam nodded, his eyes flashing red for a moment. I couldn't help but smile. Although Adam and Chase argued all the time, there was one thing they agreed on; no one messes with me, Leo or Calla. Ever.

** Chase's POV **

As much as I wanted to be the one to break Caleb's nose, Calla was hurt and upset and she was ten times more important that that bastard. I used my bionic chip to track her cell phone (she never went anywhere without it) and groaned when I saw where she went. Of all the places, did it HAVE to be the girl's washroom?

I knocked on the door to the bathroom, a little nervous about walking in there. "Calla?" There was no answer. I took a deep breath, and walked in. It was quiet in there, except for the sound of crying coming from the back of the room. I walked slowly towards the source and hated what I saw.

Calla sat on the ground, her legs pulled up to her chest and her face buried in her knees. She was sobbing miserably, totally oblivious to the fact that I was there. I felt a surge of fury run through my body like lightning.

Calla was crying. I had never seen her cry before, but it was something that I hated. How dare that ass-hole make her cry?!

I sighed and sat down beside her, wrapping my arm around her shoulders. She stiffened at the touch, then decided that she didn't care and continued to cry. Suddenly, the door opened and Jessica walked in. She looked at me, then at Calla. I shook my head and gestured to the door. She nodded, still looking at her friend with concerned, worried eyes as she walked out.

Later, after what seemed like years later, she quieted down. I didn't let her go though and we sat there, in utter silence. Finally, she raised her head and looked at me with bloodshot eyes.

"What? No I-told-you-so?" she asked miserably, her voice hoarse. I shook my head.

"I would never do that to you, Calla." I replied softly. She nodded and leaned her head against my shoulder.

"I'm an idiot." She murmured. I turned and looked at her.

"What? No!" I exclaimed. She flinched at the loudness of my voice. "He's the idiot, Calla. He's an idiot for doing that to you, for mistreating you, for everything."

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." Calla quoted quietly. I sighed and pushed away, making sure that she was looking me in the eyes.

"Calla, this is his fault. Only his fault. Not yours, not Bree's. Only his. And he's going to pay." I told her seriously. She stared at me, then faked a smile.

"And who's going to make him pay? You?" she laughed lightly. I smiled and suddenly I had an idea. We were two inches apart, closer than we ever were. It would be so easy to just lean in and…

Suddenly, my phone got a text. Calla looked at me. "Aren't you going to read that?" she asked, recognizing the text alert.

Cursing my luck, I picked up the phone. It was a text from Adam.

** From: Adam **

** Caleb's ready to apologize now. Front yard. Tasha's going to pick us all up in five minutes. **

Smirking, I showed Calla the text. She slowly got to her feet and wiped her eyes. "What did you guys do?" she asked.

I smiled. "Something we're going to get in trouble for." I assured her.

** Calla's POV **

"Holy crap. Remind me never to get on Adam's bad side." I muttered to Chase as I followed him into the yard. Caleb was leaning heavily against a yard chair, one hand on his nose to stop the bleeding. Aside from that, he had a massive black eye and his forehead was cut slightly. Adam stood across from him, glaring daggers at him. Bree was next to him, and Leo sat in one of the chairs, holding a cup with pop in it.

"Calla!" Bree exclaimed, running over to me. She hugged me tightly. "I swear, it was him. I didn't-"

"Bree, I saw the whole thing." I told her, stopping her. "I saw you tell him to stop."

She relaxed and smiled at me. I looked at Adam. "What did you do?" I asked, trying to get my message across. If he used his bionics in public…

Adam just grinned proudly. "I taught him a lesson." He replied. Luckily, Leo understood what I meant.

"Don't worry, it was just his face." He whispered, walking over to me. I couldn't help but smirk. Then I turned to Caleb.

"I thought you changed, Caleb. I thought you learned you lesson. I trusted you!" I exclaimed, trying to keep back the tears. Chase had seen me cry, but I didn't want anyone else to see. Caleb looked away, but Adam cleared his throat and he looked back at me.

"Calla, I would like to…um, apologize for my actions." He said. I nearly laughed out loud, but stopped myself as Tasha's van pulled up on the curb. I looked at Leo and gestured to his drink.

"May I?" I asked. He smirked and handed it to me. I looked back at Caleb. "In case it isn't clear, we're through." I told him, dumping the pop all over his head. It was a little cliché and immature, I admit, but it felt good. Then I followed Chase and the others to Tasha's van. I climbed into the middle with Chase. Bree and Leo sat in the back and Adam in the shot gun position.

"What was that about?" Tasha asked as she pulled away. I looked at her innocently.

"What are you talking about?" I asked. Tasha spared me a glance.

"You just dumped a drink of some poor kid's head." She told me. Everyone else answered for me.

"He deserved it, Tasha." "It was a terrible drink anyway." "He's a no good idiot!" "He tried to kiss me!" I blushed at the sound of them all defending me in their own ways.

"He really did deserve to be dumped." I agreed with Adam. "And Chase is right about his lack of intelligence."

** Chase's POV **

"I don't think he'll bother you again." I commented as I walked Calla to her door. She laughed, sounding a little happier than she had earlier.

"Yeah well, he might press charges." She commented. I shrugged.

"Mr. Davenport can hire a good lawyer." I replied dismissively. Calla smirked.

"What you two did today, it was really sweet." She told me. I shrugged.

"It was no big deal." I replied. Calla shook her head and pecked me on the cheek.

"It was a big deal to me." She replied sweetly. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." I replied as she closed the door behind her. As I walked back to Tasha's van, I made a promise to myself. No one would ever make Calla cry again. I would make sure of it.


	5. Parallel Universe

** Leo's POV **

"Inventing the wheel? Boring. Discovering electricity? Snooze. Sliced bread? Lame." Big D was on an I-awesome-and-better-than-the-world power trip, as per usual and was forcing us down to the lab to see his new invention. One that even Calla hadn't been allowed to look at yet. "But now, Davenport Industries introduces the world's first…proton fuser!"

He ripped away the white sheet covering the invention to reveal two cone shaped things on top of two shelves with wheels. Not exactly forth of July excitement. I could see that everyone else was just as disappointed as I was.

"You know, for a scientist, you'd think your payouts would be a bit more proportional to your build-ups." I commented.

"The payoff is that it allows us to see the origins of the universe. This thing fuses subatomic particles so we can understand how planets form." Big D explained. Bree smirked.

"Well, we already understand how boredom forms." She told him.

"Haven't you ever wondered where stuff comes from?" Big D asked us. "Galaxies, stars, planets?"

"This stuff, no. Onion rings, yes." Adam replied. Calla frowned.

"Well, they're rings, from onions, that have been deep fried…" she explained, surprised that even Adam wouldn't know that.

"Guys, I have always wanted to build this thing, and now it's a reality. It's an important life lesson; if you have a dream, believe in it because it can happen." Big D told us.

"Um, Mr. Davenport, isn't it dangerous to tinker with the fabric of the universe?" Chase asked cautiously. Adam laughed.

"He said tinker." He chuckled. Calla rolled her eyes.

"Chase is right. It could destabilize the Earth, or create a worm hole into parallel universe." She agreed. Big D nodded.

"True." He agreed. "But, I made it and I want to play with it."

He walked over to the machine and started hitting buttons. A laser appeared between the cones. "Prepare to be amazed!" Big D exclaimed.

"Or maimed. Let's not forget maimed." Calla commented dryly as she went to stand/hide behind one of the counters. Adam pushed Bree and Chase behind him, and I decided to use Big D as a human shield.

Instead of amazing us, the laser flickered and shorted out. "Once again, big build up, teeny-tiny payoff." I told Big D. He looked at me, seriously disappointed that his invention didn't work. We didn't have time to say anything, because my mom walked into the lab.

"Okay, the popcorn is popping, and the movie is uploaded." She grinned. "Or downloaded. Whatever! The red thingy is blinking green. Head upstairs! It's movie time!"

We all grinned and ran to the elevator, but my mom stopped me. "Hold it mister. No movie for you until you finish your chores. Your room is a mess and you haven't washed the dishes in days."

She had to be joking. I mean, now, during movie time? Couldn't she wait until after? "But I've been looking forward to this movie all week." I protested.

"And I've been looking forward to clean dishes all week." My mom replied. I stared at her.

"Really?" I asked. "Well that's just sad."

My mom walked away without another word and I was forced to follow her upstairs.

** Xxx **

It was already an hour into the movie when I was finished the first half of the dishes. Everyone else was enjoying themselves. Mom and Big D were on one side of the couch, Chase and Calla were on the other, and Adam and Bree were on the ground, all of them laughing their heads off.

Grabbing the dishcloth and a plate, I backed away from the dishes to watch a little of the movie. The dog on the screen was doing a really funny trick and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Leo!" I jumped back and dropped the plate, startled. My mom got up and glared at me. "I said no movie. First you won't do the dishes, then you break them?"

"Hey, you said you hate looking at dirty dishes and that's one less to look at." I joked. My mom wasn't amused.

"That is it. No TV for the rest of the week." She told me. I stared at her.

"That's not fair!" I argued. She was the one that scared me into dropping the plate. I didn't mean to! I glanced back at the TV screen, wanting to make them as miserable as I was. "By the way, I've seen this movie. I wouldn't get to attached to that dog!"

Adam looked traumatized, Bree stared at the screen in horror, Chase clutched the popcorn bowl he was holding, and Calla was giving me glare that could rival Batman's.

I stormed down to the lab, trying to get away from them. "Stupid chores." I muttered, before noticing the light blue orb in the middle of Big D's device. It was glowing, and spinning, and getting bigger. Something in my gut told me to run while I still had the chance.

Unfortunately, I didn't listen. "I'm just going to go ahead and say it; this isn't going to end well."

It seemed like I was in that blue orb thingy forever. So long that I was starting to regret the three Diet Pepsi's I had that day. Eventually, I was spit out onto the ground of the lab.

I jumped to my feet. "I do not know what just happened, but I need a bathroom!" I shouted, running to the elevator. I hit the buttons while jogging lightly on the spot. As soon as the elevator hit the main floor, I started running to the washroom. But I completely forgot about my bladder's issue when I saw the house.

All the furniture was different, there were fancy paintings on the wall, and there was a grand piano where our dinning room table usually was. A grand piano! I looked at it, a little surprised, just as my mom came walking in.

She looked different too. Her hair was pinned up and she was wearing a really fancy suit. She was talking on the phone, totally oblivious to my presence. "Oh, you don't like my software design?" she was saying. "Well, that doesn't really matter because you are FIRED!"

A little distracted, I stepped back, accidently knocking a very expensive looking vase off the piano. It hit the ground, shattering to pieces. "Mom, I'm so sorry! I didn't even know that was there!" I apologized quickly. To my surprise, Mom just shrugged it off.

"Break whatever you want Leo, I can afford a thousand of those." She told me. I frowned.

"You can?" I asked, a little surprised. Mom never liked paying for really expensive things, especially if they were just decorations or paperweights.

"Of course. It's one of the many perks of being a billionaire. Well that, and being able to tease millionaires." She smiled. I was totally lost. Did she just claim to be a billionaire? What was going on here?

"Wait, where is everybody?" I asked, suddenly realizing how empty the room was. "I thought we were watching a movie. And when did we move into an Italian furniture showroom?"

Mom rolled her eyes. "I don't have time for this Leo. Tasha Technologies isn't going to run itself."

"Tasha Technologies?" I repeated. Mom walked to the door.

"Honey, toss me my keys." She requested. I grabbed them and tossed them, but the scariest/awesomest thing happened. I electrical spark, almost like a miniature lightning bolt, shot out of my fingers, burning a hole in the door. I stared at the hole in shock, but Mom just acted as if it was usual.

"Mom, did you see what I just did?" I demanded, freaking out a bit. Mom took a look through the hole.

"That was a good one." She commended. "You took out the Goldberg's mailbox."

I stared at the hole. "Now, remember honey." My mom continued as if she didn't notice my reaction. "No using your bionics at school."

She left without another word, leaving me alone and in shock. "What bionics?" I questioned. Suddenly, the lightning shot out of my fingers again, this time hitting the chandelier in the kitchen. It fell and crashed onto the ground.

"Leo, I heard a crash! Are you okay?" Big D called, running upstairs, wearing a white lab coat.

"I just shot lightning out of my fingers!" I exclaimed. "I don't know what's going on, but I'm terrified to pick my nose."

Big D stepped carefully around the broken glass. "That's one of your new bionic upgrades." He explained. "You harness static electricity to form lightning bolts. I voted for sneezing thunder, but your mom shot me down."

I looked at my hands, then at him. "So, I really am bionic." I realized with a grin. "What else do I have? Super speed, super strength, super smarts?"

"Leo, you know you have these abilities." Big D told me. My grin grew wider.

"Can I fly?" I ran and leapt through the air, only to hit the ground really hard.

"Nope." Big D said three seconds too late. "But your brilliant scientist inventor mom is working on it."

I stood up. "What are you talking about?" I demanded. "You're the brilliant scientist."

Big D laughed a nerd-like laugh. "No. No, I'm still just your mom's lab assistant. Which reminds me; I should go. I'm not allowed upstairs when she's not home."

"Lab assistant? You're not an inventor?" I asked. Big D shook his head.

"Not officially. Everything I build either doesn't work or bursts into flames." He replied. I frowned. Wait, if he was the lab assistant, what about…

"What about Calla?" I asked, half expecting this to be one of her pranks.

Big D looked at me. "Who's Calla?"

"Uh, you know.  _Your_  lab assistant. Brainy, outgoing, bit of a hot-head. Keeps hoping for a raise that we all know you're never going to give her." I hinted. Big D shrugged.

"I have no idea who you're talking about Leo." He told me. "But want me to tell you a secret? I just finished a prototype on a proton fuser."

"Proton fuser." Duh. Now I got it. "That's it. I must have travelled through a wormhole into this parallel universe."

"Leo, you read too many comic books." Big D told me. I stared at him. How could anyone read too many comic books? "Now off to school and let's just keep this between you and I, okay?"

"Okay. I promise I will not let anyone know I have bionics." I promised.

"No, no, no. I mean, don't tell your mom I was upstairs or she'll take away my bathroom breaks." Big D replied worriedly. Frowning, I nodded.

** Xxx **

The rest of my day was really, really weird. Everyone I knew was acting totally different.

First of all, Principal Perry was being really, really nice. She was wearing a flower print dress, and smiling. The legends say that she hasn't done that since the sixties, when she bought her first cat. She gave me an air hug, which was seriously scary. And she gave me cookies. That weren't poison! I thought hell would have frozen over before that ever happened.

She was acting the weirdest, but there were others too. Trent and Jaden, the school's nerds, were getting picked on by the former mathletes. Kaitlin was a hippie. Jessica was a goth. Rebeccka was a teacher's pet. If I saw Marcus walking around wearing an I-Love-Leo T-shirt, I wouldn't be surprised.

Fortunately, I didn't see Marcus. But I didn't see Adam, Bree, Chase, or Calla either, and that was worrying me. Then of course, I made the mistake of bumping into the cheerleaders.

I'd been running through the halls, trying to escape the extremely friendly Principal Perry. I hadn't been looking where I was going and had accidently ran into one of the cheerleaders, knocking her down.

"Watch it, you little nerd!" she exclaimed and my mouth fell open. You've got to be kidding me. There was NO WAY that Calla was a cheerleader. Yet there she was, wearing a skirt of all things, glaring at me furiously.

"Calla!" I exclaimed. Calla looked at me with disgust.

"Eww! I think it's talking to me!" she cried to one of her friends. I stared at her. It?

"It?" I repeated. Calla rolled her eyes.

"What else am I supposed to call dweebs like you?" she demanded. "Anyway, buzz off freak. We're busy here!"

"Um…okay, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." I muttered, walking into the cafeteria. And of course, I had to walk into another person. Seriously, what was wrong with me today?

"Sorry, I…" I trailed off, realizing who the three people in front of me were. "Guys!"

There they were. Chase wearing a football jersey, Adam wearing glasses and reading, and Bree looking like one of those uptight snobs that she and Calla always make fun of. "No way. This is unbelievable!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Chase stopped me there. "Hey, everyone check it out! We've got an exchanged student from Nerdistan!"

He laughed and raised his hand for a high-five from Adam, who turned back to his book. Bree looked at me, disgusted.

"Yeah, like, step off. We don't know you." She said. I frowned. "And FYI, I wouldn't put my poodle in that outfit!"

"Come on guys, it's me, Leo." Not them too! "And you're Adam, Bree, and Chase Davenport."

"We're Adam, Bree, and Chase Henderson." Adam corrected. "Are you lost, little guy?"

I couldn't tell if he was mocking me, or just being patronizing. "Wait, you guys really don't know who I am?" What was going on? Suddenly, Calla walked through the door. She stood up on a chair.

"YO!" She yelled. "Hey everyone, get out of here so we can use it for practice. Please and thank you. Cute guys can stay, but not you, you, you, or you." She started pointing at people, including me and Chase. Surprisingly, Adam wasn't considered too ugly to stay. It didn't matter, because Adam, Bree, Chase, and I stayed where we were.

"I don' understand." I said, looking at my four best friends. Adam sighed.

"There is so much to not understand in the universe." He said. "Like, what would happen if we all just stopped for a second and existed." Then he started speaking French, which really confused me.

I stared at him. "What?" I demanded. Did he just speak French? He ignored me and started to write in a small notebook. Speaking foreign languages and writing? Wow, this was freaky.

"Okay, what is going on? Bree, help me out here." I turned to my step-sister. She faked a smile at me.

"Okay, it's pronounced  _Bre_. Like breath, without the th." She told me snobbily. Calla looked at them.

"Uh, you freaks did hear me right? Leave!" she pointed to the door, then wrinkled her nose. "Gross. And while you're at it, take a shower smelly." She snapped at Chase.

"Whatever." He rolled his eyes. I was starting to get the feeling that Calla and Chase didn't like each other at all in this universe. Adam, Bree, and Chase stared to walk out.

"What is wrong with you guys?" I demanded. "We're all best friends! Adam's an idiot, Bree's a tomboy, Chase and Calla are love nerds! And the best part is I'm bionic now! I haven't even got a chance to show you my lightning fingers!"

Just as I said that, a lightning bolt shot out of my hands and hit the recycling bin, causing it to explode. Adam, Bree, Calla, and Chase stared at it, then at me.

"AHHHHH!" They all screamed, running as if their lives were on the line. I sighed.

"And those are my lightning fingers." I finished.

** Xxx **

I spent the rest of the day trying to find Adam, Bree, Calla and Chase, but I was unsuccessful. They were avoiding me like a plague, running away whenever I finally cornered them. As the final bell of the day rang, I decided to check the lobby one more time.

It wasn't my friends that I found however, but Big D. I frowned as he grinned at me.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" I asked. I hadn't gotten in trouble and that was usually the only reason one of my parents showed up at the school. Well that, and because Adam got his head stuck somewhere. Last week, he managed to get his head stuck between the vending machine and the wall, and couldn't move the machine with all the people staring at him.

"I always pick you up from school." Big D told me. "A, your mother insists on it and B, it's the few minutes a day that I can enjoy natural sunlight."

I stared at him. "This world is so much different than my world." That was an understatement.

Big D chuckled. "Well, my world is limited to the lab. That, and of course the thrill I get for fifteen minutes a day when I come to pick you up. Stop light are awesome."

"Hey Leo." I turned to see Adam, Bree, Chase, and Calla walking up to me.

"Hey, look who made some friends." Big D grinned, obviously a little surprised. I rolled my eyes.

"That's Adam, Bree, Calla, and Chase. You don't recognize them? Big D shook his head.

"No." he frowned, confused as to why he would recognize them. Chase's face lit up with realization.

"Hey, look! It's the dude that gets all excited at stop lights." He exclaimed. Big D nodded, then looked at me.

"You guys take your time. I'll be in the car, playing with the windows." He said, jogging out. Calla watched him go.

"What a weird dude." She commented. Wow, something even normal Calla would say.

"Leo," Bree smiled at me. "we have a confession. We believe what you said earlier."

"And we want you to know that your bionic secret is safe within us." Adam told me. I smiled at them.

"Finally." I grinned. "It's good to have you guys back."

We all group hugged, but within seconds, they pushed me away, into the middle of the hall.

"There he is!" Calla exclaimed. She was pointing at me, smiling cruelly. I turned to see a tall, dark man wearing a black suit.

"That's the bionic freak!" Chase yelled. "Get him!"

"Freeze Dooley." The man ordered, grabbing my arm tightly. "You're coming with me."

I stared at Adam, Bree, Calla, and Chase. How could they? I thought we were friends!

"Note to self, not a fan of the cheerleaders or the Hendersons." I commented, loud enough for them to hear.

They all smirked at me. The man out of MIB pulled out his cell phone and hit a speed dial number. "I've apprehended the suspect." He said to some high up person that would probably lock me away forever.

"How could you guys turn me in?" I demanded. Chase shrugged.

"It was easy." He replied. "We just called that guy."

Well, duh. Suddenly, the agent was hit to the ground, the really nice Principal Perry standing above him holding a cookie tray. "Nobody messes with my rollerblading buddy!"

The thought of rollerblading with Principal Perry would surely give me nightmares for a long time. She tackled the man, pinning him to the ground just as Big D walked in. "Leo, it's hot in the car and I'm not allowed to use the air conditioning, so are you coming, or not?"

We all gestured to Principal Perry and the agent on the ground. "I used to be a Christmas elf at the Mission Creek Mall." She explained. "No one cut in Santa's line on my watch." She looked back at the agent, then at me. "What are you waiting for? RUN!"

I sped out of the school, all the way to home. I hardly noticed the fact that I had used my super-speed until Big D came running after me, several minutes later. He was gasping for breath.

"What happened?" he demanded. I quickly explained the situation. "This just doesn't make any sense. The Leo I know would never show his bionics at school!"

"I am NOT that Leo!" I exclaimed. "I came here from a parallel universe through a worm hole made by your proton fuser!"

"Wait, you were serious about that?" Big D asked, shocked. I nodded. "Wow…it all makes sense now. Well, don't worry Leo, as long as you're in my universe, I'll protect you."

Suddenly, several agents broke into our house. They came from the ceiling, the hallways, and the front door. Big D took one look at them, and fainted. I shook my head at his pathetic form.

"No wonder my mom keeps you in the basement." I commented. Two agents grabbed me roughly from behind just as another two grabbed Big D. "Hey, watch it!" I exclaimed.

I was pushed towards one of the pillars by the stairs and handcuffed there along with the slowly waking Big D. "What…oh." Big D realized as he stood up. Suddenly, the front door opened and the MIB guy from the school walked in.

"Mr. Dooley, I'm Special Agent Gordon from the Department of Special Ops Unit. Also known as dsuo." I stared at him. "It doesn't acronym well."

"No kidding." I muttered.

"We don't know how you do what you do," Special Agent Gordon continued as if he hadn't heard me. "But we're going to find out, even if it takes ten years in an isolated desert warehouse. I hope you sweat a lot; that's the only water you'll get."

Unfortunately, I don't sweat very much. I looked at him, trying to act as if he didn't scare me. "Well, what if I just break out of these?" I demanded.

"We heard you were freakishly strong, so those are exploding handcuffs. Links break, handcuffs detonate." Well, there goes my brilliant plan of escape.

"Hey, can you uh, explode the other way?" Big D asked. I shook my head at him. Seriously dude? Is that really your biggest concern?

"Get your hands off of me!" My mom shrieked angrily as she was forced into the room by one of the agents. "I am Tasha Dooley of Tasha Technologies!"

"Please don't yell at me." Big D begged. "I know I'm in the living room, but technically, they chained me here."

Mom ignored him and ran over to me. "Leo, honey, are you okay? They haven't hurt you, have they?" I shook my head, relieved that even in a parallel universe, my mom still seemed to care about me. At least that hadn't changed. Special Agent Gordon started leading her away.

"I'm sorry Mom." I apologized. "I didn't mean to use my B-I-O-N-C-I-S at school."

Special Agent Gordon looked at me. "We can spell, kid." He told me. "Well, everyone except for Agent Dorris here. He likes to sound things out."

My mom faked a laugh. "He's not bionic." She lied. "He's just…gifted." She looked at me. "Right Leo? You were always  _discovering something new_  about yourself."

Agent Dorris led my mom out of the house, followed by Special Agent Gordon and the other agents. "Something new about yourself…" Big D mumbled. Suddenly, his face lit up. "Leo, I think she was telling you to escape using one of your new abilities."

"I can't. Boom-boom bracelets." I reminded him, lifting my wrists.

"No, I mean one of your newly uploaded abilities. Like geo-leaping." He said. I frowned.

"Geo-leaping?" I asked. Big D nodded.

"Yeah, it's teleporting with a cool name." he told me. "All you have to do is think about where you want to go."

"I can geo-leap?" I was surprised. Why had he not told me before I made the ten minute walk to school? It could have saved me both time and effort.

"Well yeah. It hasn't been tested yet though, so make sure you…" One second we were in the house, then we were in the school cafeteria. "…warn me first."

Big D stumbled, clutching a table for support. I didn't blame him; geo-leaping apparently made you really dizzy. My head was still spinning slightly when Principal Perry came in.

"Pumpkin?" she gasped, startled. "What are you doing here? This place is till crawling with government goons! Duck and cover!" she ushered us behind some tables just as two of the government goons walked in.

"I'll draw them away." Principal Perry offered. "You scram. But if you get caught and end up in the clink, text me. I may not have pull with the governor, but I can drive a hatchback through a cement wall." I did not doubt that for a second. Principal Perry stood up.

"Hey! The bionic kid is out front, stacking school buses!" she shouted. "Get him!" They ran out and she followed them, presumably to keep them busy.

"This world is not as cool as I thought." I said, frowning. I HAD to get out of here. "I'd give up the bionics, everything, just to get back to my family."

Big D sighed. "I wish I could help you."

I stared at him, a light bulb flashing above my head. "Maybe you can. With your proton fuser."

"Leo, I told you. It will never work." He reminded me. "I built it."

"Listen, you always told me that if you have a dream, believe in it." I told him seriously. "It's time for you to believe, Big D."

"What's a big D?" he asked in response. I blinked. He couldn't be serious, could he? "Even if it did work, how would we get into the lab with all those agents swarming the house?"

"You see, this is where flying would come in handy." Well, probably not since the lab was below ground, but still. How dare they not give me flying?

"Where are you, little guy?" Crap! Big D and I ducked behind the tables again as Adam, Bree, Calla, and Chase walked in.

"Keep looking, he can be anywhere." Calla ordered them. Chase glared at her.

"Don't tell me what to do." He retorted. Calla rolled her eyes.

"Um, hello? Captain of the cheerleading squad. I tell  _everyone_  what to do, pinprick. Now start looking." She snapped.

"And while we're at it, why don't we look inside our selves for the answers to the questions that we're afraid to ask?" Adam suggested. Bree sighed audibly.

"This is so ridik!" she exclaimed. "He's not here. Oh! Maybe he's at the mall." She looked at her brothers and Calla hopefully.

"We're not going to the mall." They said in unison. Bree crossed her arms, pouting. They split up then, searching underneath and behind the tables.

"We're gonna have to geo-leap." I warned Big D, grabbing his arm.

"Fine, but this time can you give me some…" we appeared in the hall a second later "…warning!"

I looked around. Oh no! "I thought lab." I said, confused. "This ain't the lab."

"Your geo-leaping is glitching!" Big D exclaimed. "I told you it wasn't tested! Now we're sitting ducks!"

"Time for plan B." I said, jumping off the bench. "I'll super-speed us home."

"I get motion sickness. Is there a plan C?" Big D asked as Adam, Bree, Calla, and Chase burst in.

"There they are!" Adam exclaimed.

"Yo!" Chase shouted to the agents outside. "The bionic kid's in here!"

"Thanks a lot Chase!" I exclaimed. "You're super annoying in two universes!"

They all looked confused at that, but I didn't stick around to explain. I grabbed Big D and sped us home, running at 80 mph. I didn't stop until we reached the house. Big D unlocked the door and we ran in. There were four agents waiting for us. I recognized Agent Dorris and Special Agent Gordon at once. (Let's call the other two Agent Bob and Agent George)

"Okay men. Apprehend the bionic subject. Use any force necessary." Special Agent Gordon ordered. They slowly started walking towards us.

"What do we do?" Big D panicked. I shrugged.

"You heard the man; use any force necessary!" I replied, shooting lightning at the agents. They jumped out of the way. I turned to defend myself from Agent Bob but Agent Dorris grabbed me from behind. I pushed him away, elbowed him in the stomach, and threw him over the couch.

Agent Bob and Agent George grabbed me by the arms, but I punched them both in the stomach, sending them to the ground. They started to get up, so I grabbed them by their ties, and sped over to the counter with them in tow. I stopped suddenly, and they went flying over it.

"To the lab!" I shouted, already running to the elevator. Big D followed me, jumping in just before the doors slid shut. Seconds later, they opened again, and I ran to the middle of the room. "We don't have much time! Fire up the proton fuser!" I ordered.

Big D ripped a cover off of the proton fuser. "Ta-da!" he exclaimed before separating the two cones. "I would feel a lot better about this if you would sign some release forms." He told me.

"Push! Buttons!" I shouted, glancing back to make sure the agents weren't coming for us. I had held back a little during the fight, only wanting to beat them rather than injure them. But they would be down here any second.

Big D hit some buttons and focused the laser. A small blue laser was shot from one cone to the other, but they shorted out, just like before. "See? I told you it doesn't work."

Just then, the elevator doors opened, the agents ready for round two. "Well, make it work!" I told Big D before hitting the button that would close the lab doors. It wouldn't hold the agents off for long, but hopefully long enough.

"Can't some dreams just die?" Big D demanded. I thought back to before, trying to remember exactly what happened.

"It took the worm hole a little while to reach full size." I said. "About half an hour, maybe forty-five minutes."

"That sounds like a volume-threshold problem. I can tweak that!" Big D exclaimed, running back to the cones. He hit some buttons and reprogrammed it a bit, then the worm hole started to grow.

"That's it. You're doing it!" I grinned. I was going to get out of here!

"Wow!" Big D was shocked, happy tears streaming down his face. "Something I made actually works!"

At that moment, the agents started pushing open the door. They were trying to pry it open. "Wait, if I leave, what will happen to you?" I questioned. I wasn't about to leave Big D to fend off those agents by himself. He probably couldn't even fight off a fly without help.

"Both universes will reset to the instant you left. None of this will have ever happened." That was a relief. "Except, I'm going to start believing in myself."

"Good." I smiled. "Bring it in."

I gave him one last hug, then he grabbed a magazine and ran to stop the agents from prying open the door. "Go Leo! It's now or never!"

I nodded and jumped through the portal just as the agents broke free. It closed up just as they were about to grab me. Minutes later, I was spit out onto the floor of the lab. My lab. In my universe.

"Hello?" I called, hoping that someone was down there. What if I ended up in a different universe? Maybe they were still watching the movie. I ran upstairs to find them still on the couch. They all had really devastated looks on their faces.

"I was so attached to that dog." Adam cried. Yes! It was them! I was about to tell them what had happened, when I realizes that someone was behind me. With a start, I realized that it was Special Agent Gordon.

"Ah!" I exclaimed, my hands outstretched as if I could zap him with my lightning fingers…that I no longer had. Dang it!

"Relax Leo, that's Gordon." Big D told me, getting up. "He's my new head of corporate security."

"He's also really bad at Texas hold'em!" Calla called from the couch, where she still sat besides Chase. "He owes me twenty bucks from last week alone!"

"Hey there little buddy. Nice to meet you." Gordon shook my hand, although I was still very cautious of him. He then jumped back, pretending to be afraid of me. Great, now he was mocking me too.

I turned to my mom. "I'm so happy to see you guys!" I exclaimed, hugging her tightly. She looked surprised.

"Nice to see you in a better mood." She smiled. "Now put that energy into your chores."

"Absolutely. I will never complain about my chores ever again." I promised. "It's so good to be home."

"Good to be home?" Bree repeated, looking at me. "Where did you go?"

"A parallel universe." I told her. "Mom was a brilliant scientist, Chase was an annoying jock, Calla was a stuck-up cheerleader, Bree was a shallow mallrat, and Adam was all introspective and philosophical."

"You don't have to make up words, Leo." Adam told me. "Just tell us what happened."

"It was real. You gotta believe me." I looked at them, only to see amusement in their eyes.

"You know what? I believe you, Leo." Big D told me sincerely. I looked at him hopefully.

"You do?" I grinned. Big D nodded.

"Yeah. Anywhere your mom is a brilliant scientist is definitely a parallel universe." My mom didn't look happy at that comment, and he rushed to cover for himself. "I mean, you're very smart, but there's much more to being…I'll be doing the dishes."

He walked away, his head hung.

** Xxx **

"So what does this toy do?" Adam asked as I walked into the lab. He was pointing at a small object in Big D's hands.

"Let's hope it cures boredom." Bree sighed.

"It's not a toy." Big D corrected. "This is my new cell replicator. With it, we can map any organism's DNA and replicate any creature, living or dead."

"Again, isn't that dangerous?" Calla warned him. Chase nodded.

"It could reintroduce a dormant disease that we have no ability to combat." At those words, I knew what I had to do. While Chase gave Big D a list of dangers, I grabbed a mallet from Big D's tool bench.

"No! No. No. No. No. No. Bad. No. Bad. No. Not. Again." I punctuated each word by slamming the mallet onto the device until there was nothing left of it. Then I walked away proudly.

"Well, that cleared my boredom." I heard Bree say as I headed upstairs.


	6. Calla and Leo VS Evil

** Leo's POV **

"Chase, there's no way you can beat Adam at arm wrestling." I told said bionic genius as we followed him to the bench. We were in the lobby of the school, the bell having just rung to signal the end of the day. Chase had suddenly challenged Adam to an arm wrestling contest and Calla and I were trying to convince him out of it.

"Yeah, it'd be like a chicken wrestling an alligator." Calla agreed, smirking. "All we would hear is a cock-a-doodle-crunch."

We all laughed while Chase gave her a look. "She's right bro." Adam said. "Your spaghetti arms are no match for these meatballs."

Adam started kissing his muscles, one after another. Everyone left in the hall was staring, including Calla's friend Jessica. Although, instead of the weird glances people were giving us, she had a gooey I've-got-a-crush-on-you look as she watched Adam. I tried my best to ignore it.

"Hey, when you're done kissing your girlfriends, let's do this." Chase interrupted my thoughts. He and Adam hopped up on the bench and put there arms on the table, not touching each other yet.

"You'd better back up Leo; you're in the splatter zone." Bree told me as Calla was chosen to be ref.

"Alright, I want a clean match. No whining, screaming, crying or tap-outs." Calla said, then looked pointedly at Chase. "I'm looking at you Chase."

"Three. Two. One. Go!" she announced. Adam had his hand ready, but instead of grabbing it right away, Chase licked his own hand first. Adam, surprised and disgusted, forgot to fight back as Chase pinned his arm. Adam jumped back.

"Hey! No fair! He licked his hand!" he exclaimed, wiping his hand on Bree's arm. Chase laughed.

"Exactly! Clever beats strong any day!" Chase smirked arrogantly. Calla grabbed his hand and raised it above their heads.

"Chase wins!" she announced. Then, something occurred to her. "Wait, which hand did you lick?"

"That one." Chase pointed to the one she was holding. She shuddered, dropped his hand, wiped hers off on Chase, then lifted his other hand.

"Chase wins!" she repeated. They dropped their hands from the air a second later, but I couldn't help but notice that neither of them let go of the other. That is, until Chase caught me staring and quickly shoved his hand in his pocket. I was about to question why he had yet to ask her out, but I was interrupted by Satan himself.

"Hey guys, how's it going?" Marcus asked, walking over to us.

"Ooh, bundle up everybody." I warned. "It just got partly creepy with a hundred percent chance of annoying."

Marcus glared at me, while Calla smirked in amusement.

"Am I going to need my umbrella for that?" Adam asked me. Calla nodded.

"I'd bring one so you could repel all the ugliness." She told him, smiling cruelly at Marcus as she spoke.

Marcus and the others ignored us. "So, do you guys want to hang out at my house? We just got a sick new flat screen." Marcus told them. I looked at him.

"Is it as sick as you make me? Because that would be pretty sick." I said.

"We'd love to hang out today." Chase told him. Calla put her hand on Chase's shoulder.

"Chase is too polite to say it, so I'll say it for him. You're a lunatic, and we're leaving." She told Marcus. We both started to push the arguing bionic siblings out the door.

"Come on guys." "Calla, I was not about to say that at all!" "You're being ridiculous!" they objected as we pushed them out the door. Calla and I stopped before following them out.

"Nice try." I commented. "See you later, Captain Eyebrows."

Calla and I went to walk out, but were stopped when the doors closed on their own, trapping us within the school. "What the hell?" Calla demanded, pushing on the door. I looked back at Marcus.

"How did you…" I asked, pointing at the door. Marcus smirked.

"Chase isn't the only one who can move things with his mind." He replied. I looked around, hoping that someone was left in the school.

"Help! Somebody! We're trapped!" I shouted. Calla didn't say anything. She just stood there, glaring daggers at Marcus. "Principal Perry!" The first time in my life where I would ever go to her for help.

"Leo, she's not here." Calla called to me, sounding just a little annoyed. "It's all you can eat night at the Buffalo Barn."

Marcus laughed. "It looks like it's just the three of us." He mused, walking over to me. "Man, it is so fun to mess with you when you can't tell anyone I'm bionic."

"Yeah, it's a real party over here too." I commented dryly. "We should just turn you in."

I started to walk towards the door, but Calla yelled suddenly "Leo, duck!" I did as she said, hitting the ground as a garbage can sailed over my head.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Marcus warned. Calla walked up to him, furious.

"I'm not afraid of you, Marcus." She growled, clenching her fists. Just when I thought she was about to walk away, she swung at his head. She never connected though, because Marcus caught her fist in the palm of his hand. He twisted it, hard enough to make her cry out in pain a little. He looked at her dangerously.

"Of course you aren't." he agreed. "But you are afraid of what I'll do to your friends. So, unless you want them and yourself to get hurt, I'd back off." He let go of her fist and pushed her to the ground beside me.

"You two are going to keep your mouths shut." He ordered, glaring at the two of us. "Or next time, you can eat laser."

With that, he walked out, the doors opening and closing behind him without him even touching them. I got to my feet and offered Calla my hand.

"It would have been a nice right hook." I complimented as I helped her up. She rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, whatever." She still sounded mad. I pulled out my phone and started another addition to our file we named 'Proof that Marcus is Evil'.

"Voice log, Monday, 3:23 pm. Gathering evidence on subject Marcus." I said into the speaker. "And we will not give up until we prove, once and for all…"

My phone started to ring. I sighed and looked at Calla apologetically as I answered it. "Hello?"

" _Hey Leo."_  It was my mom.

"Oh, hey Mom." Calla smirked and I glared at her. "Can I call you back?"

" _Why?"_  my mom asked.

"Calla and I are working on something. A project." I lied. Well, technically, we were working on taking Marcus down. And that was sort of like a project. So, not really a lie.

" _Alright, love you._ " I smiled. Thank God my mom doesn't ask many questions.

"Love you too. Bye." I hung up and turned back on the recording. "Where was I?"

Calla snatched the phone from me. "We're not going to stop until we prove once and for all that Marcus is evil and always has been!"

She handed it back to me. "Call your mom back. Tell her you're going to be late for dinner." Calla told me, walking over to the vending machine. She put in a 5$ bill, and ordered two bags of chips.

"Why?" I asked, texting my mom anyway. Calla tossed me a bag of chips and I followed her out the door.

"Because, I'm tired of letting Marcus push me around!" She snapped. Wow, Marcus must have really crossed a line. "If we're going to get evidence, we have to stop waiting around. Time to go find some."

"You're going to get us killed, aren't you?" I questioned, following her for no good reason.

"Yeah, probably. Are you coming?" she asked. I stared at her as if she was crazy.

"What? Are you nuts? Of course I'm coming!"

** Calla's POV **

"So, your plan is to follow the evil bionic psychopath to his home? Great plan Calla, this is totally not suicidal." Leo whispered sarcastically as we ducked into a bush. Marcus was in front of us, and for the past ten minutes, had been talking with his dad on the phone.

"Hey, you agreed to come." I hissed back. "Now shut up. I want to hear this."

"Yes Dad, everything is under control." Marcus assured his father. "Yes, I took out the trash. Yes, I set the DVR to record 'Funeral Mishaps'."

"Remind me to record that later." I whispered to Leo. "It sounds funny." He smirked and nodded. Finally, Marcus got off the phone. I looked around.

"Why are we in the back? Why isn't he going in through the front?" Leo voiced my exact thoughts aloud. I shrugged and watched as Marcus casually flipped open the lid on his barbeque. There was a key pad inside. He hit the numbers 6-6-9-5-9 and then a large, red button beneath.

Suddenly, the wall in front of him turned blue, and disappeared, revealing a doorway. "He has a morphing wall?" Leo demanded, his voice shrill. I stared at him. He cleared his throat. "I mean, he has a morphing wall." He repeated in an unusually deep voice.

Marcus walked inside, and on instinct, Leo and I ran in after him. The wall closed behind us. Leo and I stopped, standing in a pitch black emptiness.

"Can you see anything?" Leo whispered.

I shook my head, then realizing that he couldn't see me "No, give me a sec."

I reached into my backpack and pulled out a flashlight. I flicked it on and saw that Leo was standing to my left. Marcus was no where to be seen. It was only then did I realize how dusty and old the hall was. It was as if we were the first people to walk down here in years. I didn't expect that anyone, aside from Marcus and us, would come down here willingly either.

Suddenly, I had an idea. Just in case this was a suicide mission, we should make sure someone knew what was going on. It's not like Marcus scared me or anything…well, sort of, but Leo didn't need to know that.

"Hey Leo, let's do another video diary." I suggested. We'd been doing them for a while in case Marcus actually killed us. This would be our fourth one.

"Good idea." Leo pulled the camera out of his bag. He handed it to me since I was better with cameras and that crap, and I gave him the flashlight. I turned it on and pointed it at Leo and I.

"This is Leo Dooley and Calla Parker, hot on the trail of suspect Marcus." Leo introduced us in a quiet, urgent tone. I looked at the camera.

"Since no one believes us, we have to take matters into our own hands and now we're closer than ever to discovering his secret." I said. I noticed a large beam hanging really low and I ducked under it. There was a thud behind me and I knew that Leo had not seen the beam. "For the record, that was not the secret. That was just a really low beam."

"Give me that!" Leo took the camera away from me and gave me back my flashlight. "Marcus threatened us again today. Using telekinesis."

"Yeah, he threw a trash can at our heads after the others left…hmm." I said, something occurring to me. "You know, he can't really kill us. It would be impossible for him to do that and get away with it. His cover would be blown."

"Yeah, that's a real relief." Leo replied sarcastically. I rolled my eyes and continued walking. But then I noticed the sticky white webs caught in my hair.

"EEK!" I screeched, jumping back a foot and swatting at my hair. Leo laughed.

"You're afraid of spiders?" he asked. I shook my head.

"No!" I lied. "I just don't like them."

For those who MUST know, when I was five and Jaden was seven, we went camping in the woods. Jaden was in charge of setting up our sleeping bags because we wanted to sleep under the stars instead of in the tent with our parents. Jaden set them up, with my sleeping bag on top of a spider egg thing. When I woke up, there were hundreds of baby spiders crawling inside of my sleeping bag.

"Right." Leo pretended to agree with me. "Remind me to get you a tarantula for your birthday."

"If you do that, I'll have Chase kill you with his plasma balls." He probably would too, if I asked nicely. He was the one of the only other people that knew I was afraid of spiders, which was good because the lab had a lot of them hidden around. "Anyway, back to Marcus! We don't know what this place is, or why he came here…well, technically, it's his house, but we don't know why it has a morphing wall. Either way, it's really dark here and we can barely see anything."

I ducked under some more cobwebs, silently cursing the arachnids for existing. "I'm not digging the whole haunted house vibe. You?" Leo asked.

"No. I like Christmas more." I replied. I stumbled suddenly, tripping over some low beams. "Would it kill someone to light a camera in here?"

I said that very loudly. Leo slapped a hand over my mouth and we stood there, praying that no one heard us. Apparently, no one did.

"Marcus doesn't know we're here." I whispered to the camera. Leo nodded.

"That's right. We're getting closer to the heart of Marcus' operation. We are inches away from having all the evidence we need to prove once and for all that Marcus is…"

Leo trailed off as a bright light came at us. I'm not sure what I saw, but it was big, and it was scary. I heard metal scraping as a large robot turned towards us, it's eyes glowing. My heart started beating really fast as it got nearer and I bolted. Leo was right at my heels as I fled from the hall. I pushed through the holographic wall and didn't stop running until I reached the street.

** Leo's POV **

"What was that?" I demanded, looking at Calla. She shook her head helplessly.

"Leo, this might sound crazy, but I think it's a Decepticon. You know, from Transformers." She looked at me, fear in her blue eyes.

"Decepticons don't exist." I replied. Calla looked at me.

"Well, it looked like a Transformer, and it didn't seem too friendly, which means Decepticon." She argued. We argued about Transformers and Decepticons for about ten minutes. When Calla finally gave up, I looked back at the house.

"I dropped my camera." I told her. I had no plans of going back for it though. Calla looked at me.

"We have to go back in there." She told me. I stared at her.

"What? Dude, it's just a camera. Did you hit your head on a beam?" I demanded. She shook her head.

"Leo, we need to find out what that was and what Marcus is up to." I knew she was right, but I seriously didn't want to get killed. Calla sighed. "Fine, I'll go by myself. If I die because I didn't have any backup, my ghost is going to come back and haunt you."

She walked back into Marcus' yard and I knew that I had to follow her. Not because I wanted to die, but because Chase would be devastated if anything happened to her. Well, we'd all be upset, but Chase the most.

I ran into the backyard to find her waiting by the barbeque, a confident smirk on her face. "Took you long enough." She commented.

I ignored that. "How are we supposed to get in?"

"I remember the code." Calla replied simply. She hit a few buttons on the keypad inside the lid and the wall morphed again. "Simple."

I followed Calla inside the building and we walked through the hall. There was no sign of my camera, but I was too busy looking for the possible Decipticon to search for it. As we reached the end of the hallway, Calla crept up to the exit. She peeked her head through, then looked at me and gestured for me to come closer. As I did, I could hear Marcus speaking on the phone.

"Dad, it is going to be so epic when I capture Adam, Bree, and Chase." He was saying. I shot a glance at Calla. Capture Adam, Bree, and Chase? There was no way we were going to let that happen.

"Fine, when  _we_  capture them." Marcus continued, oblivious to the fact that he was being watched. "Just like when  _we_ forgot my birthday…oh, I'm sorry. Are you angry, or are  _we_  angry?"

He stormed out into another room, still arguing with his dad over the phone. Calla and I stepped into the room and looked around. It was a massive laboratory. But unlike Big D's, this one was filthy covered top to bottom in dust and grime. It reminded me of Calla's basement after it flooded last month.

"What is this place?" I asked, looking at Calla.

"I don't know, but it smells like sewer water and sweaty dudes." She shrugged, frowning as she started towards a computer. "Hey, do you think I've got time to hack this thing?"

"Maybe, I'm not sure how long it will be until…whoa." I stopped, looking at a large bulletin next to the consol. It had a lot of pictures of Adam, Bree and Chase, newspaper clips, and the occasional picture of me and Calla with evil moustaches drawn on.

"Dude, take pictures." Calla told me suddenly. "This is proof that Marcus knows about their bionics and wants to capture them."

"Good idea." I agreed, pulling out my phone. I started taking pictures of the clip board, the consol, and everything else. Calla stood behind me, trying to hack into the computer while I was distracted.

"Mmph!" Calla suddenly said. I ignored her and continued to take pictures.

"Bam, evil lair." I took one photo. "Bam, Marcus' capsule." I turned around and took a photo of Calla and Marcus, the latter with his hand tightly clamped over Calla's mouth. "Bam, Marcus…MARUCS!"

I tried to run, but Marcus grabbed me with his spare hand. He then removed his hand from Calla's mouth, grabbing her arm and pushed us into the wall of his capsule. Calla glared at him. "You put your hand over my mouth like that again, and you're going to lose a finger." She threatened.

"You two shouldn't have come here." Marcus growled angrily. I smiled nervously.

"I couldn't agree more. Where's the exit?" I asked. Marcus rolled his eyes.

"You two are not going anywhere." He replied. "You've seen too much."

Calla looked at him, then at the bulletin board. "What do you want with Adam, Bree, and Chase?" she questioned.

"You won't be around to find out." Marcus replied, glaring at us. Calla looked at him as if he was an idiot.

"No, this is the part where you reveal your evil plan. Then you trap us, we escape, and then kick your butt. Have you never seen a cartoon?" she demanded.

Marcus ignored her. "Say hello to our remote control home security system." He released Calla just long enough to push a button on a remote control. The center of the floor opened up and a very large vacuum came out.

"Well that looks effective." I commented sarcastically. Calla smirked.

"I might be afraid of that…if I was a kitten." She told Marcus. He raised an eyebrow and hit another button. Suddenly, the harmless vacuum transformed into a massive killer robot right out of the movies.

"Told you it was a Decepticon." Calla sang under her breath, staring up at the thing. I looked at Marcus.

"How big are your dust bunnies?" I demanded. The robot glared down at us. Just as it started walking towards us, Calla elbowed Marcus as hard as she could. He let go of us and the instant he did, we were running. We weren't fast enough to reach the exit however. The robot blocked us.

"Split up." Calla told me. "He can't kill us both at the same time, right?"

I nodded and went rolled to my left as the robot swung its giant hand. It smashed into the floor inches from where Calla and I had been standing. I bolted behind Marcus' capsule, while she ran towards his computer.

"You two are quicker than I thought." Marcus said. "Good thing I added this."

Two rocket launchers came out of the robot's suit, resting on its shoulders. Not a second later, I was running again, trying desperately to avoid the rockets. I stumbled over to the counter and grabbed what was on top of it.

"Ha! I have a weapon now too!" I pointed my weapon at the robot, only to realize what I was holding.

"That's a stapler." Marcus pointed out. I nodded.

"So it is." I replied, placing it down on the counter. Marcus picked it up.

"Just kidding; it's a ray gun." He said with a smirk.

"Dang it!" I cursed. Marcus sent a laser at me and I ducked to avoid.

"I've got a weapon too, Marcus, so don't count me out." We both turned to see Calla holding a fire extinguisher. Marcus looked at her.

"That's a fire extinguisher." He told her. She smirked.

"I know what it's called." She replied, throwing it at him. He jumped back to avoid being hit, but it still knocked the ray gun out of his hands. It fell to the ground, breaking upon impact.

"You're gonna pay for that." Marcus growled angrily. Calla smiled in response. Somehow, she didn't see the robot reaching towards her.

"Calla!" I tried to warn her, but it was too late.

"Hey!" she exclaimed as she was lifted two feet off the ground. "Leo, run!"

I did as I was told, only to be stopped when the robot grabbed me two. He swung us both around so that we were facing Marcus.

"You know, this really isn't fair. I mean, at least give us a weapon if you're gonna bring out evil transforming robots." Calla snapped at Marcus, crossing her arms angrily.

"Game over dweebs." Marcus smirked. "You're no match for my robot's awesome physical strength."

Suddenly, I had an idea. "Yeah, we are no match for it's strength." I replied. Calla sent me a glare, obviously thinking that I was giving up. "But just remember, you didn't beat us, this thing did."

Calla's glare softened, her forehead creasing in confusion. I almost cheered. For once, I had confused miss brainiac Calla and not the other way around. Marcus rolled his eyes.

"Please! I could pulverize you." He argued. I smirked.

"Yeah, I'd like to see you try." I replied. Calla laughed.

"I'm with Leo on this. I mean, why would you use the robot if you could do it yourself?" She said with a cocky smile. "Obviously it's because you know that we could beat you in a fair fight."

"Not smart, nerds. The robot would have been quick and painless compared to what I'm going to do to you two." Marcus replied. I smirked, trying to seem arrogant.

"Alright, tough guy. But if we win, you have to let us go. Deal?" I gave him my rules. He chuckled.

"Yeah, deal." He agreed. He hit a button on his remote, and the robot dropped Calla and I. We both hit the ground hard.

"Leo!" Calla hissed, her head turned away from Marcus so he couldn't tell what she was saying. "What's the plan?"

I smiled at her, then got to my feet. I turned to Marcus. "Let's shake on it."

"Fine." He held out his hand. I smirked, licked my hand and grabbed his. While he was distracted by the disgustingness, I pulled the robot's controller out of his hand.

"Leo, that was genius!" Calla exclaimed, smiling.

"Ewww!" Marcus complained. "Why would you do that?"

"Because I'm clever and clever beats strong any day." I replied, hitting a few buttons on the remote. My plan was to turn the robot off or make him fight Marcus. That did not happen.

The robot swung at me and I had to duck to avoid it. It swung again, this time, nearly knocking Calla off her feet. "Well maybe clever should take a look at that thing's owner's manual!" she shouted at me as the robot began to rampage around the lab.

It started shooting lasers everywhere, at all three of us. Eventually though, I got the hang of it, and I directed all of its deadly weapons on Marcus. But before it could send him flying, Marcus started fighting back. He shot his green laser vision at the robot before anything could be fired. The robot started malfunctioning, electricity flying from it until it crashed to the ground and broke apart.

"Oh man!" Marcus exclaimed. "That was my dad's favourite toy! There goes pizza night."

"Let's go." Calla whispered to me. I nodded and we quietly snuck out through the same hallway we had come. I could hear Marcus screaming our names behind us, but that's when we started running.

We quickly exited the house and ran as fast as we could, heading towards my place. By time we reached the driveway, we were out of breath.

"Hey, Calla?" I gasped, my hands on my knees. She had her hands above her head, breathing heavy.

"Yeah?" she asked as we slowly made our way up to the house.

"The next time…you threaten to haunt me…if I don't come with you…I'm going home." I told her, still gasping for breath. She smirked.

"Deal." She agreed. We walked in, finding the living room strangely empty.

"Where is everyone?" I asked. I was eager to show them the proof that I'd gotten on my phone.

"Probably in the lab. Mr. Davenport wanted to test out his new teleporter." Calla replied, hitting the keypad. I nodded, bouncing slightly as I waited impatiently for the elevator. Calla smirked as it finally arrived and we stepped inside.

"Impatient much?" she asked. I looked at her.

"We finally have proof!" I reminded her. Her eyes widened.

"The pictures! I totally forgot!" her eyes gleamed and I could tell she was just as excited as I was to finally prove to everyone that Marcus was evil.

The elevator doors slid open, revealing everyone inside the lab. Calla and I ran towards them. "We're back!" Calla exclaimed.

"Oh thank you!" Chase looked so relieved. I knew he liked Calla, but not that much. Something tells me that we missed something.

"Right here, on my phone, we have undeniable proof that Marcus is evil!" I exclaimed, running towards them. Suddenly, I stumbled over something and my phone fell out of my hand. It landed underneath this really big machine, then disappeared completely. I frowned. "Where'd my phone just go?"

Big D walked over to the computer. "Honolulu." He replied. "But we can bring it back right here."

He tapped a few buttons, then there was a bright flash. When the light died away, there was a smoking, melted, piece of scrap metal where my phone should be. Then it hit me. That WAS my phone.

"No!" I fell to my knees, picking the destroyed phone up in my hands. All my proof was gone. Everything that Calla and I had gone through tonight was gone.

Calla was just as shocked. "You've got to be kidding me. This has to be a joke. That can't be his phone." She said, shaking her head.

"It's gone!" I cried. They were all staring at us by now.

"Leo, we'll get you a new phone. Don't worry." Chase assured me. I shook my head.

"No, you don't get it." I told him. "We had proof."

"Proof of what?" Bree asked.

"That Marcus is evil." I replied. They all rolled their eyes.

"He's serious." Calla looked at them, almost pleadingly. "He tried to kill us tonight in his secret lair."

"Secret lair?" Big D repeated. Calla nodded.

"Yeah, it's in the back of his house. There's a keypad under the lid of the barbeque that controls a morphing wall on the side of the house. Behind the wall is a hallway that leads to the lair. It's basically an underground lab, sort of like this one, but it smells and is full of dirt."

Maybe it was my misery, or the fact that Calla explained it so matter-o-factly. Either way, they decided to humour us. "Show us then." Big D said after a moment.

** Calla's POV **

"It was here!" I exclaimed. Leo was opening and shutting the barbeque lid as if the key pad would magically appear. But no, it was gone. Marcus must have moved it.

"Are you two sure that you weren't at the ATM outside the Chicken Shack?" Mr. Davenport asked, looking at us as if we were crazy.

"Don't you take that Calla-and-Leo-have-wild-imaginations tone with us." Leo snapped. "There was a touchpad that controlled that morphing wall!"

"Oh, right. And then all the little elves came out and did a moon dance around the bonfire." Chase smirked.

"We're telling the truth!" I exclaimed. Chase looked at me, obviously not believing anything Leo or I were saying.

"I believe you guys." Bree said. "I also believe that we, as your friends and family, are going to get you the help you two so desperately need."

"You guys don't understand! Marcus and his father have a secret lair!" Leo exclaimed.

"Okay, guys! Are we roasting weenies or not?" Adam demanded, clearly missing the entire point to us being here.

"Come on guys, let's go. Calla, I'll walk you home." Chase told me, not really giving me much of a choice. Grumbling, I followed him onto the street.

"Morphing wall, seriously?" Chase chuckled after a moment. I glared at him.

"We're telling the truth." I muttered. Chase rolled his eyes.

"Please Calla, I'm not an idiot. And I don't even think idiots would believe that story." I glared at him.

"It's true!" I snapped, starting to get a little upset. I thought Chase of all people would believe me.

"Calla, you can't expect me to actually believe that story!" Chase stared at me as we reached my house. I crossed my arms.

"Actually, I kind of did. I did expect you to trust that I was telling the truth." I retorted.

"You have no proof." Chase reminded me. I looked at him.

"Since when has that mattered?" I demanded. "I don't demand for you to have proof for everything you say. I don't doubt that you're telling me the truth. Why shouldn't that work two ways?"

I stormed off to my house, expecting Chase to leave, but he followed me up to the porch. "Fine, if that's true, why can't you trust me when I say that Marcus is a good guy?"

"Because he's not! And I don't understand why you can't see that!" I argued.

"Why can't you give him a chance?" Chase demanded.

"I don't trust him." I replied. Chase crossed his arms.

"Why not? Why don't you trust him?" He questioned.

"He's not trustable. He's no good. He's a liar." I answered. Chase raised an eyebrow at me.

"What has he lied about?" he asked. I stopped. I couldn't tell him the truth.

"Never mind." I muttered. Chase sighed.

"Can you at least try to be his friend? For me?" he asked. I shook my head.

"I'm sorry, but no. I can't do that." I told him. I really was sorry. If I didn't know the truth about Marcus, I would try to get along with him.

"You can't even pretend not to hate him for me? Seriously?" Now Chase was really upset. "Why not?"

"Because you shouldn't even be hanging out with him! He's trouble. I mean it Chase!" I exclaimed. Chase's face lit up with understanding.

"I think I get it now." He said slowly, smiling. "You're jealous."

"Jealous." I repeated. "Of who? Marcus? Chase, that is the most idiotic thing you've ever said."

"I'm going to try not to take offence to that." Chase replied. "But yeah, I think you're jealous of Marcus. Because we're spending so much time with him, and less time with you."

"That's ridiculous." I snapped. Chase smiled kindly at me.

"Calla, you're always going to be my best friend. Nothing will ever change that." I flinched involuntarily at the word 'friend'.

"Well, maybe I don't want to be your friend. Maybe I…" I stopped myself before I could say anything else. I almost said 'Maybe I want to be more'. My face was beet red. Please let Chase not figure out what I was about to say! Please! It would ruin everything that we have between us, and I didn't want to risk that.

"Well then." Chase said finally, his tone cold. Obviously, he misunderstood. "You could have just said that you didn't want to be my friend."

"Chase, I-I didn't mean that!" I exclaimed. Chase looked at me and I flinched at the coldness in his eyes.

"Then what did you mean?" he demanded. I shook my head helplessly.

"Not that." I said quickly. I could feel the tears creeping up in my eyes. Chase rolled his eyes.

"Whatever Calla." He turned and started to walk away.

"Chase!" I tried calling him back.

"See you around." He replied, not turning to face me. He didn't stop walking, instead leaving without another word.

I went inside, closed the door behind me, and slid to the ground. The tears were streaming down my face as I pulled my knees to my chest. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" I sobbed into them. How could I be so stupid? How could I have just ruined everything?


	7. Bionic Showdown

** Chase's POV **

"Whoo-hoo!" Adam and Bree cheered as we ran into the lab after our latest mission. It had gone pretty well, and we got it done relatively easy, but I still wasn't in the best of moods. Calla and I had gotten in an argument last night, and I was refusing to speak to her. It was her fault. She was the one that said that she didn't want to be my friend.

Anyway, I think Calla was avoiding me as well. She had told Mr. Davenport that she had packing left to do before her weekend trip to her Aunt's, but she really didn't need to take today and tomorrow off work for packing. I guess she was too proud to apologize or something. Anyway, back to reality…

"Guys! That was awesome!" Leo congratulated as we entered the lab. "You just prevented the biggest oil spill in history."

"Pretty slick, huh?" I joked. They all groaned.

"If only we could have prevented that disaster of a pun." Leo replied. Mr. Davenport walked over to us, a furious look on his face. My siblings didn't seem to notice it.

"Hey Mr. Davenport, anything you'd like to say to us?" Bree asked, smiling. "Rhymes with good job?"

"The answer's in the clue." Adam hinted, grinning. Mr. Davenport glared at us.

"What were you guys thinking?" he demanded. Adam shook his head.

"Nope, not even close. Two more guesses." Adam really wanted to play the guessing game. Mr. Davenport ignored him.

"You completely ignored my mission plan, improvised everything and jeopardized the entire mission!" he yelled.

"Mr. Davenport! We bust our buts all the time!" I objected. "And all you ever do is sit around the lab and make lists of what we do wrong."

"I do not just sit around making lists…of what you do wrong." he trailed off, looking at his IPad. Leo nodded, sitting down at his desk.

"It's true. He also practices taekwondo in his tidy-whites." Leo commented, making a disgusted face. Davenport glared at him.

"They're not tidy-whites!" he snapped. "They're breathable exercise briefs!"

"What ever they are, keep your sweeping high kicks away screen!" Eddie yelled, appearing on the monitor near our capsules. Mr. Davenport gave him a look, then turned back to us.

"Look, you guys got lucky this time, but without my precise planning you're opening yourselves up for disaster. So just follow my orders." I clenched my fists. Couldn't he just give us a damn break? Davenport started to walk away, wanting to have the last word.

"Well maybe your orders aren't always right." I called. I was never this rude to anyone, least of all Davenport, but I was in that bad a mood. Davenport and Leo both froze and turned to face me. Leo was giving me this horrified 'I-can't-believe-you-said-that' look, while Davenport was glaring at me.

"Excuse me?" he demanded. I refused to back down under his batman-like stare.

"He said 'Well maybe you orders aren't-'" Mr. Davenport cut Adam off.

"I KNOW WHAT HE SAID!" He screamed angrily. I rolled my eyes and pushed past him, stalking upstairs. It was unusually quiet on the main floor. Tasha was still gone for the reporter conference in Chicago, and she wasn't due back until Monday. Adam, Bree, Leo and Davenport were all still downstairs and hopefully wouldn't come up for a while.

I pulled out my phone to give myself something to do and found a message from Calla.

** From: Calla **

** Chase, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. Can we please just talk? Please? **

"Delete." I muttered under my breath as I got rid of the message. It was her own fault and honestly, if she didn't want to be friends anymore, why should I care? Maybe I liked her and maybe I missed her, but it was her fault.

** The next morning **

"Morning." I said to Leo as we headed into the kitchen. He greeted us, then went back to searching the fridge for something to eat.

"Hey guys, training after school. Four o'clock sharp." Davenport told us. I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, okay Mr. Davenport. We wouldn't want to miss another chance for you to tell us everything we are doing wrong." I said.

"Oh, and while we're on the subject, do we need a detailed plan on how to get home?" Bree picked up on my teasing. "And what are these things we're holding with words in them?"

"Oh, so is this how it's going to be from now on? You guys mocking everything I say?"

"I don't know, ARE WE?" Adam mocked. He turned to us. "Seriously, are we? I missed that part of the plan."

I rolled my eyes. "Come on guys, we'd better get going. We don't want to be late for school."

"Oh, are we going to school now?" Adam started to mock me. I glared at him.

"Don't mock us, mock him!" I told my idiot of a brother.

"Oh, am I mocking you?" I grabbed him by the sleeve and pulled him and Bree out the door. Adam continued mocking us until we reached the bus stop where Calla usually met us.

"Hey guys." Calla greeted us. I ignored her, but Adam, Bree, and Leo started talking to her as we walked to school. Calla kept trying to drag me into the conversation, but I gave up after the third try.

** xxx **

"Hey, Bree." I elbowed my sister, getting her attention. It was after school and we were waiting around for Mr. Davenport to get back for training. I nodded to Adam, who was playing a game about cookies on the computer. Then I used my telekinesis to levitate his bowl of popcorn above his head. He groaned in annoyance.

"Stop it Chase!" he told me. Bree smirked.

" _Stop it Chase_." She mocked in Adam's voice. Adam got up and glared at us.

"Quit it Bree." He growled.

" _Quit it Bree_." She continued. Adam crossed his arms.

"I HATE it when you use that weird vocal manipulation!" Adam complained. He looked up at the popcorn bowl floating above his head "Give me back my popcorn!"

"All you had to do was ask." I replied as I turned the bowl upside down, dumping all the popcorn on Adam's head. He glared at me.

"You two and your new abilities…How come I haven't unlocked one yet?" he asked, frustrated.

"Adam, why don't we talk about a new ability once you've mastered keeping all the saliva in your mouth?" I suggested. He ignored me.

"You know what I want?" he asked. "The ability to talk to raccoons. There's something going on there that we don't know about."

I rolled my eyes and checked my watch. It was already four-thirty. "Hey, where's Mr. Davenport?" I asked Bree. "We were supposed to start training half an hour ago."

Bree frowned. "Yeah. He's never late for training. I'm going to go check around the house."

She sped off jut as the elevator doors opened. Leo stepped out. "Hey guys." He said before Bree sped right by him, making him spin and almost lose his balance. "Would it kill you to keep it on the fifty-five?" he demanded, glaring on a fifty-five?"

"I couldn't find Mr. Davenport anywhere." Bree told me. Leo frowned.

"Well have you looked closely?" he asked. "He is a small man. He may be obscured by a houseplant or perhaps a family sized can of tomatoes."

I smirked. "Let's ask Eddy." I suggested, walking towards the screen. It flickered on, but instead of Eddy's face staring at us, it was Marcus.

"Don't bother. I deactivated him hours ago." Marcus told us. I looked at my siblings in confusion.

"Marcus!" Leo exclaimed. Adam looked at Leo.

"Wait, he has his own TV show? What channel is this?" he asked.

"How did he…" Bree seemed as shocked as I was.

"What do you want, Marcus?" Leo demanded, giving him the usual death glare. Marcus smirked.

"I'm just checking up on my favourite bionic friends." He replied. I looked at my siblings.

"He knows we're bionic?" I said. They looked surprised as well, so I knew that they didn't tell him.

"I don't-I mean-that is-wow…" Leo stuttered. I looked back at Marcus.

"I heard you were looking for your daddy." He continued. "He's right here."

Marcus turned and I gasped. Mr. Davenport was standing in a cage, surrounded by bright blue laser bars. Marcus kidnapped him, but how could he? He was our friend…or so we thought. "And if you ever want to see him again," Marcus smirked cruelly "I suggest you come get him."

"Guys, don't fall for it! It's a-" Mr. Davenport was cut off as Marcus cut the connection. We all exchanged shocked looks.

"Whoa." I said.

"I know." Adam replied.

"I can't believe this." Bree breathed.

"I know." Adam said again, getting a little more obnoxious.

"Adam, that is so annoying." I told him.

"I KNOW!" He exclaimed. I sent him a glare.

"We told you Marcus was evil! 'Leo, he's a nice guy.' 'Calla, give the guy a break.'" He mocked us. "Wool, eyes, pulled over!"

I sighed. "Look, Leo, we're sorry we didn't believe you." I apologized. God, if Calla was here, she probably would have demanded that we all get on our knees and grovel for her forgiveness.

"I don't get it." Bree said, still confused. "What would Marcus possibly want with Mr. Davenport?"

"I know. It doesn't make sense." Adam agreed. "Why would someone hold an incredibly wealthy man against his will?"

I didn't stop to check if he was being sarcastic or not. "It doesn't matter." I snapped. "We have to go rescue him."

"Hey, no worries. It'll be easy." Adam assured me. "Marcus is just a scrawny little twerp. Even you can take him…actually, on second thought, we all should go." I ignored his comment and we started to walk to our capsules to get our mission suits.

"Guys!" Leo called us back. "Um, before you go, there might be one teensy-tiny thing I forgot to mention…Marcus is also bionic."

"What?" we all demanded.

"And he has all your abilities combined." Leo finished guiltily.

"Are you serious?" Bree demanded. Leo nodded.

"He sort of revealed himself to me and Calla a month ago." He admitted, looking down.

"Whoa." I sighed.

"I know." I glared at Adam angrily before turning to Leo. Bree glared daggers at the shorter boy.

"How could you two not tell us that Marcus is bionic?" she demanded, sounding hurt and betrayed. Adam shrugged.

"Well, to be fair, they don't tell anyone we're bionic." Adam reminded her, not upset with Leo in the least. Bree rolled her eyes and turned back to Leo.

"We both wanted to tell you! But, he threatened to report your secret to the authorities." Leo informed us. I nodded.

"That makes sense. You guys were just looking out for us." I said, feeling guilty for arguing with Calla like I did. That was why she was so upset the other night. Because she was worried about us and was frustrated that she couldn't give us a warning. She'd only been caught up in the moment when she said that she didn't want to be friends. Adam nodded.

"Look, we have to figure out a way to take Marcus down." Adam said. Leo's eyes widened.

"Wait. I know something that might help." He exclaimed. "Calla made me promise to keep it a surprise, but she made you guys new, even better mission suits. You were going to get them for your birthdays."

Leo walked over to Calla's desk and accessed her laptop, which she had forgotten when she last left the lab. Leo pulled open a file and showed us diagrams of the new suits. Already I could see that they were more durable, better designed, and cooler than the old ones. "The new suits are way more protective." Leo explained. "They can withstand just about anything. Enemy fire, scorching heat, mustard stains." He looked up at Adam. "I'm guessing that one's for you, Adam."

Adam grinned. "Nice. Oh, what's it do for Italian vinegaret? That's my real enemy."

We all looked at him. "Come on guys, let's go suit up." I told them. They nodded and we ran into our capsules. We came back out wearing our brand new uniforms. This time, they didn't look identical, much to our relief.

"Finally!" Bree exclaimed happily. "Something that doesn't make me look like part of a French circus!"

"These are awesome! And look! They come in men's, women's, and junior misses." I glared at him as he made yet another crack about my height.

"Guys, how are we supposed to pull this off?" Bree demanded. "We've never had to fight against bionics before. We're not trained for it." I nodded in agreement.

"I guess we  _do_  need Mr. Davenport." I admitted, feeling bad that the last time I spoke with him I was being so disrespectful.

"I got this." Leo said. "I can't train you, but I can guide you. I've been in that lair so I can help you navigate on the comm set." He handed us each an ear piece.

"Good call. Okay guys. Are you ready to do this?" I asked. They nodded. "Then let's go get our dad back!"

We all started running out, including Leo. Adam and Bree pushed him back to the table. Then we ran to Marcus' house.

** Leo's POV **

The second everyone was gone, I pulled out my phone and hit the fourth speed dial number. I started pacing while I waited for someone to pick up.

" _Hello?"_  Finally! Took her long enough!

"Calla, I need your help!" I exclaimed. I heard her sigh on the other line.

" _Look Leo, usually I love to help you guys do stupid things, but I'm sort of busy right now."_  She told me.

"It's an emergency! Concerning Marcus!" I exclaimed. That caught her attention.

" _Please tell me they finally believe us and we get to tell them I told you so."_  She requested cheerfully. I sighed.

"Later. Right now, Marcus has kidnapped Big D and Adam, Bree, and Chase are going to fight him." I explained.

" _What?!"_  Calla demanded.  _"Okay, hold on."_

She started talking to someone else. I didn't catch much of the conversation, but I heard a few words, like  _Leo, crash, hospital,_  and  _panic attack_. I guess she was making an excuse to whoever was in charge of her for the weekend. Then she was talking to me again.

" _Listen, I'll be right over. Might take me about an hour, but I'll be there as soon as I can."_  She promised me before hanging up. I breathed a sigh of relief and briefly wondered what her excuse to her parents was.

** Chase's POV **

"Trust me, this is the house." I confirmed as we stared at a blank wall. Adam frowned.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "I don't hear Mr. Davenport crying like a baby." I rolled my eyes.

"Well, how are we supposed to get inside if there's not even a door?" Bree demanded. Adam grinned.

"Ooh! I know! Let's order a pizza and see what happens." He suggested. I gave him a look.

"Adam, that's ridiculous." I told him. He shrugged.

"Okay, it doesn't have to be pizza. It can be Chinese, Mexican, whatever you want." I sighed. Why did he have to be so stupid?

" _Guys, focus."_  Leo told us.  _"You need to look for a way inside. Once you're in, I can tell you where to go."_

"I got this." Adam told me seriously. He stepped in front of the wall, his arms tense and standing in a fighting stance. He raised his arms to punch the wall open…

"Open sesame!" he shouted. I shook my head and was about to call him a dumbass, except well, the wall disappeared, replacing it with a door. I stared at it in pure shock. Adam turned to us, a great big grin on his face.

"Congratulations." Bree told him cheerfully. "Your hidden ability is talking to vinyl siding."

Just then, Marcus stepped through the door. We jumped back, ready to fight. "Well, well, well. Look who's here."

"I should warn you," Adam said seriously. "I can control vinyl siding."

Marcus pretended to be afraid of him mockingly. "Where's Mr. Davenport?" Bree demanded, getting right to business.

"Aww, do the little bionic babies miss their daddy?" he teased. I glared at him.

"Why would you do this, Marcus?" I demanded. "We thought you were our friend."

Marcus smirked and crossed his arms. "Yeah, you fell for that one hook, line, and sinker." He agreed. "Who would have thought that pathetic little Leo and stupid little Calla were right all along?"

" _Thank you!"_  Leo exclaimed.  _"Hey!"_

"She's not stupid." I growled. Marcus chuckled.

"Of course not." He replied, rolling his eyes. "But you know what the best part of all was? That none of you had a clue that I'm just like you."

"Half Irish?" Adam questioned. I gave him a look, wondering what was going on through his head.

"Bionic! I'm bionic!" Marcus snapped. Bree sped over to him.

"Well, you're going to take us to Mr. Davenport." She told him. She grabbed him and pushed him towards the wall. He spun and ended up leaning against comfortably.

"You're going to have to move faster than that." He smirked. Adam glared at him, furious.

"Let's see how you handle this." He said, preparing to shoot Marcus with his heat vision. But Marcus was fast and shot a laser from his eyes at Adam. It over-powered Adam's heat vision and sent him to the ground. Bree ran to Adam's side, helping him up. I turned to Marcus.

"You wanna give it a shot?" he asked cheerfully. I gritted my teeth.

"I thought you'd never ask." I replied. I jumped into the air, using my new found levitation ability, and kicked him hard in the stomach. He fell back and hit his head on the house. He hit the ground, unconscious.

"I didn't know you could do that." Adam commented, getting to his feet.

"Another hidden ability I discovered." I explained proudly. "I was just in the shower one day and there it was."

"Ah man!" Adam complained. "All I get in the shower is pruny fingers."

"Guys, come on." Bree urged us, reminding me why we were here. We ran inside, leaving Marcus on the ground.

"Alright Leo, where now?" I asked. Silence. "Leo?"

I looked at my siblings. Where was he? "He must have no connection here." Bree realized. I nodded and led my siblings down the only hallway. Suddenly, my foot hit something.

"What's that?" Bree asked. She knelt down and picked up what appeared to be a video camera. It had a white tag on it.

"Property of Leo Dooley." Bree read it aloud. "He must have dropped it."

"Here." Adam took it and put it in one of his jacket pockets. Good thing Calla thought to include those…I wonder if she would help us if she was here. I wouldn't blame her if she didn't.

** Leo's POV **

"Guys? Can you hear me? Chase?" Nothing. Something was blocking the transmission. Suddenly, Eddy came back on his screen.

"Eddie! You're back!" For the first time in my life, I was happy to see him. He groaned.

"Whoa. What happened?" he asked. "And enabled my cookies?"

I frowned. "Long story. Big D got captured and Adam, Bree, and Chase went to go rescue him."

"What?" Eddy gasped. "If anything happens to my Donny…what do you say you and I hit the road and blow the bankroll on Italian suits and fast cars?"

I chose to ignore what he said. "They're at Marcus' house. I lost contact with them when they went inside." Suddenly, I realized something. "Wait, how was Marcus able to show up on your screen?"

"I don't know." Eddy replied. "He must have hacked into my network. I feel so violated."

"That's it! Marcus and whoever he's working for have been spying on us." I decided. "That's why they're always one step ahead of us."

"It really doesn't take that much." Eddy remarked. I nodded; unfortunately, he had a fair point.

"Can you reverse the relay signal and put it up on the monitor?" I asked suddenly.

"Can you not talk to me like I'm a three year old?" he countered. I sat down at my desk as he did as I asked. A few seconds later, and Marcus' lair was in plain view.

I noticed Big D right away. He poked one of the laser bars, then pulled it finger back, crying out in pain. I smiled. "Now we can see them, and they can't see us. Bam!"

"You know what?" Eddy said suddenly. "We make a great team."

"Thanks, Eddy." That was the nicest thing he'd ever said to me since I'd moved in over a year ago. Maybe I was growing on him.

"Oh, and by the way, I want off the team." He added. Happy moment gone. I watched in silence as Big D argued with this really ugly dude, who I guessed was Marcus' employer.

** Chase's POV **

We turned the corner into a large room. Mr. Davenport stood in the center of a large laser cage off to the left, some idiot standing next to him, outside the bars.

"Mr. Davenport!" Bree exclaimed. The dude grinned.

"Oh goody! Everyone's hear! Party time!" he shouted. Suddenly, Marcus pushed his way into the room from behind us. I frowned at him. Hadn't I knocked him out?

"I've secured the perimeter." He told the guy. "They're ours now."

I turned to Mr. Davenport. "Mr. Davenport, what is going on? Who is this guy?"

"Who is this guy?" the man repeated, sounding slightly offended. "Donny, you never told them about me? I'm deeply offended." He turned to us. "Adam, Bree, Chase…I'm your father."

We all stared at the man. He was nuts! He had to be! But Mr. Davenport wasn't denying it. When I turned to demand answers from him, he just looked away, shame written on his face.

"What do you mean you're our father?" I demanded.

"Yeah, he's our father." Bree said, pointing at Mr. Davenport.

"No." The guy replied. "That's what he's been telling you."

"Well, I don't know who you are, but you're going down." Adam ran at the man, but suddenly, we were inside the cage. We looked around. How the hell did that happen?

"Douglas, you mastered short-range teleportation before I did? I've been working on that for years!" Mr. Davenport complained.

Douglas smirked. "I know. I'm awesome."

"No, you're not awesome, I'm awesome!" Mr. Davenport objected.

"I'm awesome!" Douglas protested.

"AWESOME!" Mr. Davenport shouted, turning away from the guy.

"You're still going down!" Adam exclaimed. He started towards the bars, but stopped, confusion on his face. He looked at us. 'My super strength…it's gone."

Bree frowned and tried to run as I tried to access anything from my database. "So is my speed."

"I've got nothing." I told them.

"That's because I designed these lasers to block the signals from your bionic chips." Douglas explained. "That's right. Daddy gave you toys, but he can also take them away."

Marcus smirked and walked over to the cage. "Yeah, in here, you're not super-human. You're just a bunch of pathetic kids."

"Hey! Sad clown!" Douglas snapped at Marcus. "This is my moment! Save it for the stage!"

I glared at Marcus. "I can't believe you lied to us like that." I growled at him. He smirked.

"Really? I thought you were the smart one, but then again, you did miss the most obvious clues. Leo and Calla hating me. The two car 'accidents' that nearly got rid of them. Me always inviting you over here." He smirked. I frowned.

" _Two_  car accidents?" Bree repeated. "There was only the one the night of the Fro-Yo shop's grand opening."

"It would have been two, if that damn new kid Caleb hadn't pushed the nosy little nerd girl out of the way." Marcus muttered. I stared at him. He tried to hurt, no  _kill_ , Calla. My…our Calla. If it wasn't for the cage that blocked out bionics, I was certain that Spike would have attacked Marcus.

** Leo's POV **

"Eddy, they're trapped! What am I going to do?" I exclaimed, staring at the screen.

"Well if I know you, I'm sure it will involve a sad little plan and an epic fail. Good luck." I glared at Eddy.

"This is serious!" I shouted.

"Well, how do you think I feel?" Eddy demanded. "If anything happens to them, I'm stuck here alone with you and Tasha! Not even computers are meant to suffer that much."

I started pacing, trying to think. "Alright, if I go to the authorities…I'll blow their bionic secret. And I have no idea how long until Calla's back! Her aunt's house is about an hour away!" I sighed, knowing exactly what I'd have to do. "I'll just have to go rescue them myself."

Eddy started laughing. I looked at him, and he stopped. "Oh. You were being serious?"

"Yes." I replied, slightly offended. "But I won't stand a chance against Marcus' bionics if I go there empty handed."

"You're not going to." Eddy said seriously. I turned to him in confusion.

"What?" I asked.

"Donald told me that in a worst case scenario, someone has to push this button." Eddy shrank and a large red button, the size of my fist, appeared on his screen. "And you being the only one left, is the worse case scenario."

I tried not to be hurt by that comment and poked the red button. It turned dark blue, and a large, see through, light blue version of Big D appeared in the center of the room.

"Whoa." I said. "A hologram."

" _Adam, Bree, Chase…if you're watching this, something terrible has happened."_  Holo Big D said as I waved my hand threw his body. It felt cool.

" _It's time for you to become the heroes you were always meant to be, and whatever it is you're about to face, I know you can handle it without me."_

"That's not what he told them yesterday." I sung to Eddy.

" _Though your bionics are amazing, they may not always be enough. So step into the elevator, and Eddy will take you to a secret floor below the lab; my weapons vault."_

"He has a secret weapons vault!" I exclaimed. Oh, this was going to be fun. Very fun indeed.

" _And Calla, Leo, if you two are watching this,"_  Holo-Big D leaned down to my height.  _"I DO NOT HAVE A SECRET WEAPONS VAULT!"_

I stood there for a second. Then I grabbed a sticky note, wrote a quick note for Calla in case she got back before I returned, then ran to the elevator to stock up on weapons.

Eddy brought me down to the floor. It was pretty impressive. Every inch of every wall was covered with guns, lasers, grenades, you name it. "Look at all this." I said to Eddy.

"A room full of stuff you can use to hurt yourself. I should have shown you this a long time ago. Can we show Calla?" Eddy asked. I looked at him.

"No!" I told him. "She'd use the weapons on me!"

"Exactly!" Eddy said happily. I rolled my eyes, grabbed a bag off the floor, and started filling it with weapons.

"Wait, how am I supposed to use it if I don't know how it works?" I asked.

"When has that ever stopped you before?" Eddy pointed out. I nodded.

"Good point. Let's do this." I agreed. I picked up a weapon that looked like a cross between a light sabre hilt and a blaster and held it up.

"Ooh! That's a good one!" Eddy exclaimed. "Here's a hint; aim it away from yourself."

I turned the weapon around quickly, then put it in the bag. I started to walk away, but tripped over the bag.

"Ow." I complained.

"Yep. Every great journey starts with a single step and a face plant." Eddy said.

** Chase's POV **

"Well Marcus, we finally captured them." Douglas smiled vainly. "Actually, I captured them. Me, me, me, me, me."

I snorted in amusement and shot Marcus a sideways glance. "You got one of those too, huh?"

"You have no idea." He replied. It was one of the few things we had in common; a self centered…I was going to say father, but I wasn't so sure anymore.

"Come on; we've got work to do." Douglas said, walking out of the room. Marcus followed him, although he was still annoyed. The second they were out of the room, I turned to Mr. Davenport.

"Mr. Davenport, why did that guy say that he was our father?" I asked slowly. Mr. Davenport sighed.

"Because technically, he is your father, and my brother." He answered.

"What?" Bree sounded hurt. I looked at him in confusion, not a common feeling for me.

"How is that even possible?" I demanded. Mr. Davenport took a deep breath.

"Years ago, Douglas and I started Davenport industries together. It was great, we had a cute little lab…not as good as the big lab we have now, but then we didn't have nearly as much money as-" he started to ramble, much to our annoyance.

"Get to the point!" Bree snapped. Mr. Davenport sighed again.

"We developed bionics so that robots could do the jobs that were too dangerous for people, but then Douglas went behind my back and implanted them into genetically engineered humans." He explained. Adam frowned.

"You mean us?" he asked. Bree rolled her eyes.

"No, Adam, the Greenbay Packers." Adam nodded.

"Your bionics were never designed to be interfaced with the human nervous system." Mr. Davenport said.

"So that's why we glitch." I realized. Mr. Davenport nodded.

"Exactly." He confirmed. Adam nodded.

"Oh, and all these years I just thought it was because you were a terrible scientist." He said. I didn't call him an idiot for that one; I'd thought the same thing.

"Douglas also hid all kinds of secret codes in your chips." Mr. Davenport continued. "That's why you have all these mysterious new abilities popping up out of nowhere."

"So, if your brother created us, how did we end up with you?" Bree asked quietly.

"He wanted to make you into cyber-soldiers of mass destruction." Mr. Davenport replied, an angry gleam in his eye. "But I knew that if I raised you in a safe environment, I could train you to be bionic heroes…so I built the lab and I hid you there."

"Wow." I said. "So everything you've ever known about ourselves, about you, it's all been…"

"One big lie." Bree finished for me.

"Wow. This changes everything." Adam got this awestruck look on his face. He gasped. "Am I Jewish?" he asked excitedly.

We all stared at him for a moment. "Please tell me there's another unexpected twist where it turns out I'm not related to him." Bree begged. I nodded in agreement.

"Oh, this one with the fussing and the complaining." Adam said in an Italian accent. I shook my head at his idiocy.

"I wanted to tell you guys, but I figured the less you knew, the safer you would be." I stared at him. How could he think that made up for everything he did?

"But we trusted you!" I objected. "I mean, if you were lying about this, then who knows what else you were lying about."

"Yeah!" Adam grabbed Mr. Davenport's hair and pulled. When Mr. Davenport cried out in pain, my brother turned to us. "He's not lying about the hair; it just looks fake."

Mr. Davenport pulled away from him and looked at the three of us desperately. "Could you ever forgive me?" he asked. We all looked away, unable to answer.

"Hello happy family." We turned to see Douglas walk back in. Marcus did too, but instead of speaking to us, he walked to a capsule in the back. He fell asleep the second he placed his hands on the inside of it.

"We're not your family." Bree told Douglas, a tear in her eye. "Let us out of here."

"Yeah." I agreed. "You can't force us to be your cyber soldiers."

"Actually, I can, Boy Wonder." Douglas replied. I grit my teeth. Only Calla was allowed to give me super hero nicknames. I hated it when anyone else did. "You see, when I created you, I installed my Triton app on your chips. Once it's activated, I'll control your bodies, and your minds. You'll do whatever I want; whether it's start a world war, or some light house cleaning."

"YOU CAN NOT MAKE ME VACUUM!" Adam shouted. For whatever reason, he was more scared of that device than Calla's new born kitten.

"Why do you need us?" Bree questioned. "You already have Marcus, and apparently a barber with a sense of humour."

I snickered at her comment, but Douglas chose to ignore it. "Marcus is just an android." He replied. We looked at said boy, confused. "He's not sleeping; he's recharging. The trouble with androids is they burn out too quick. He won't make it to his sixteenth birthday. But don't tell him that, he thinks he's getting a car."

For the first time, I felt bad for Marcus. To only live fifteen years…well, I was fifteen. It would be horrible to die now, before I'd actually accomplished anything great. Not telling the guy was probably the lesser of two evils. But then again, he tried to kill Calla. The thought of her dead just kept running through my head, and I couldn't get the devastating image out of my mind.

Suddenly, an alarm went off. Douglas' monitor turned on to show his hidden entrance, with Leo trying to get inside. For whatever reason, his little red wagon was sitting in the lawn next to him.

"Oh, look who showed up to be a hero." Douglas mused. "And this one's not even bionic. I could take him out with the sprinklers."

"Leave him alone! He's just a kid!" Mr. Davenport yelled. Douglas rolled his eyes.

"A nosy kid that keeps getting in our way!" he paused for a second. "But, his body would be messy to clean up…Marcus!"

Marcus raised his head, his green eyes glowing. He ran out of his capsule/recharger. "Yeah?" he saw the screen. "Can I kill Dooley?"

"Nah, just capture. We'll keep him alive until we get to the shore line, so we can dump his body." Marcus nodded.

"You leave him alone!" Bree shouted. Douglas ignored her, and stepped back so we could see Marcus and Leo.

Marcus stepped out from the hidden door, while Leo was looking the other way. "Hello Leo."

Leo screamed and spun around. "You came all this way, just to see me?" Marcus mocked. "Why don't you come in?"

"I'm here for Adam, Bree, Chase and Big D." Leo told him. Marcus smirked.

"Not gonna happen." He replied.

"Oh yeah?" Leo smirked and pulled a high-tech gun out of the little red wagon. "Well I've got this."

I sighed. He wasn't even holding it right! Marcus waved his hand and the gun flew out of Leo's hands. Leo looked pretty surprised. "No, you  _had_  that." Marcus corrected.

"Oh yeah, well I still have all of these." The pointed to the wagon and Marcus shot his laser vision at it. It disintegrated. "No!" Leo kept reaching for the wagon, as if it was invisible.

Marcus rolled his eyes and used his telekinesis to lift Leo up in the air. Leo looked down, then at Marcus. "What are you doing?" Leo demanded. Marcus didn't reply, instead throwing Leo through the air.

My stepbrother flew into a tree, and crumpled to the ground. "Leo!" We all screamed. He didn't move as Marcus walked towards him. Marcus pulled out a remote, the same remote that teleported us inside this cage, and aimed it at Leo. A second later, he was lying at our feet.

"Leo!" Bree exclaimed, kneeling down. He groaned in response and opened his eyes.

"Oh hey, Bree…Bree!" he sat, looking around confused. He frowned. "How'd I get in this cage?"

I helped him up. "Marcus knocked you out, then teleported you here." I replied. Leo nodded, rubbing his head. "Are you hurt?"

"It's just sore." Leo replied. I glared at the door as Marcus walked back in. He crossed his arms and looked at Douglas.

"I still don't see why I can't just kill him now, and dump his body in a trash can or something." He complained. Leo stiffened beside me, but there was no way we were going to let Marcus or Douglas lay a finger on him.

"Finger prints would be a problem." Douglas replied. Marcus sighed, shot Leo a glare, and stormed off.

Leo looked around again. "So, question; was that whole 'Luke, I am your father' part I saw on the monitor real, or a lie?"

"It was real." Adam, Bree, and I growled, glaring at Mr. Davenport. Leo nodded.

"Okay then. So, anyone else got any plans? 'Cause that was the best I had." Leo said, looking around. Adam glared at Douglas.

"When I get out of here, I'm taking you and Marcus down!" he yelled, trying to intimidate him. Douglas smirked.

"Good luck with that. Once I press this," he held u a white remote with a single button on it, "it'll activate your triton apps and I'll control you, permanently."

He pointed the remote at us. "No!" "Stop!" "Do Chase first!"

My siblings then proceeded to use me as a human shield, except Leo, who stepped in front of us in hopes of blocking the signal. I shut my eyes and we waited. Nothing happened.

"Marcus, did you put batteries in this thing?" Douglas shouted suddenly.

I opened my eyes. We were still in control, but how? "HA!" Mr. Davenport exclaimed. "I went into their chips and put a block on their app a long time ago! Oh, it is so good watching you eat it!"

Douglas was mad. "Very clever Donny, but I'll get around it. I've always been a better programmer than you." He started typing things very quickly on his computer. "There! See! Only eight minutes until my cipher key decrypts your amateur block and activates the triton app."

He laughed. "What are you going to do, call mommy? If you do, don't tell her I'm alive."

I looked at Mr. Davenport for an explanation for that last part, but his expression told me it was a story for another time. If there would be another time…

** Calla's POV **

"Leo?" I called, running into the lab. "I'm sorry I'm late, but some idiot crashed on the highway and…Leo? Are you even here?"

I looked around. The lab was empty. The only sound came from the computer monitor. "This had better not be a prank guys!"

I walked over to Leo's desk to turn off the screen, but froze in shock when I saw what was on it. Adam, Bree, Chase, Leo and Mr. Davenport, all standing a laser cage. Mr. Davenport was hugging Bree, while the other boys were arguing with Marcus and some dude with really bad hair. I listened in on what they were saying.

"…gonna come looking for us!" Leo was shouting. Ugly-dude smirked.

"Like who?" he demanded.

"Um, my mom…Chase's girlfriend…" Leo trailed off, out of people already. My cheeks heated up at being called Chase's girlfriend, but I didn't exactly object either. Seeing them in trouble made me forget about our argument completely.

Ugly-dude just laughed. It was then that I noticed a yellow sticky note next to the keyboard. I picked it up. It read:

_ To Calla, _

_ Marcus and Douglas kidnapped Adam, Bree, and Chase too, so I went to go rescue them. I took Eddy with me. _

_ From Leo _

_ PS: Douglas is Big D's brother. _

_ PPS: Douglas is also Adam, Bree, and Chase's dad. _

I reread the note a couple of times. Obviously, Leo had been caught in his attempt to save his family, but the last part confused me. Mr. Davenport never mentioned a brother, except for when he lied to Leo's grandma last year. He also lied about adopting his brother's kids. And if his brother was real…then what about the whole adoption story? Was that real too?

"Okay, now I'm just confused!" I muttered. A thought occurred to me. "And I've really got to stop talking to myself. Makes me seem crazy."

I sighed. I couldn't just sit here and let them try to rescue themselves. I had to do something, but what? Marcus was bionic! I'd get myself killed the second I arrived. And obviously, I couldn't call the cops without exposing Adam, Bree, and Chase. I needed something that could beat bionics.

I went through my mental list of anyone or anything Adam, Bree, and Chase had faced before. Nothing came to mind. Except…

I debated it in my mind for a minute. It was strong. It had weapons. It could beat Marcus. But it was a prototype and I wouldn't be surprised if it glitched. Not to mention the fact that I'd never used it before in my life.

Well, Leo was able to make it work…sort of. And I knew more about its mechanics and technology than he did. "If I die, I'm SO going to come back and kill those guys." I muttered to myself before running off to do something stupid, reckless, and probably suicidal.

** Leo's POV **

I looked at Douglas' computer, watching the timer count down. "Guys, there's only four minutes until the block is decrypted. We have to get out of here!" Bree exclaimed.

"What if we deflected one of these beams?" I suggested. I'd seen it in a spy movie and figured it might work. Big D nodded.

"We could take out the control consol and deactivate the cage." He agreed. "I don't suppose anybody has a mirror on them?"

We all looked at him. "If any of us had a mirror on them, it would be you." Bree told him. He nodded, but he had nothing with him.

"There must be something we can use." Chase said. Adam shrugged.

"Well, I can't think on an empty stomach." He said, pulling a granola bar from his weapon holster.

Suddenly, the shiny part of the wrapper caught my eye. Bree saw it too. "Hey, we can use this as a reflective surface." She suggested. Big D smiled.

"Yes, but it will never withstand the intensity of these beams. We need something to support it. Something hard and flat."

"We could use Adam's head." Chase suggested, smiling for the first time since he'd been captured. Bree gasped.

"What about your belt buckle?" she looked at Big D. Big D nodded and pulled off the belt buckle, shaped like his head. I'd comment about how weird that was later.

"Yes…wait. It's custom." He actually considered using something else. I rolled my eyes and took the buckle from him. I handed it to Bree, who flattened the granola bar wrapper on it.

"There. Now we have a mirror" she said. Chase smirked and took the mirror from her.

"Step aside, Bree. Let the big boys handle this." He said. Bree smiled.

"Oh, okay. When are they getting here?" she asked in response. Chase ignored her and went to shove the mirror under the laser. But he stopped.

"Without my bionics, I can't figure out the precise angle. We're just going to have to… _guesstimate._ " We all grimaced.

"Look, we can't get this wrong. We've only got one shot." Big D told him. Chase lined the mirror up with one of the lasers.

"A little to the left." "Back on the Z axis" Big D and I started giving Chase advice. Adam sighed suddenly.

"No, not that one.  _That_  one!" he pointed to a different beam. We looked at him. "I've had my snack. I'm ready to help. Hold this." He took the mirror from Chase and gave me the granola bar. He lined it up with the other beam, but we couldn't decide the corrected angle.

Suddenly, Bree snatched the mirror out of Adam's hands and shoved it under the laser. It shot a laser at the computer, and the lasers deactivated. Bree smirked at us. "Yolo."

Chase grinned. "Our bionics are back!" he exclaimed, obviously happy to be the smartest person in the room again.

"Come on, let's get out of here!" Bree grinned. We started to follow her out, but were stopped by Douglas and Marcus.

"Bravo." Douglas congratulated us. "But just because a dog gets out of his cage, doesn't mean he's going for a walk."

"Wait, you have a dog?" Adam gasped. "Where, where, where, where, where?"

"Douglas, you're not getting these kids." Big D said, pushing Adam behind him slightly. It was weird to see him try to protect someone much bigger and stronger than him, but sweet too.

"Wrong again Donny." Douglas smirked. "Look; the decryption is complete. Now I'll have total control of their…"

Acting on what was likely instinct, Big D kicked the remote out of Douglas's hands. It went flying onto one of the catwalks. "Ow! Man, not cool!" Douglas shouted, shaking his hand. "What are you wearing? Clogs?"

Douglas then attacked Big D. "Guys, run!" Big D exclaimed.

"No way!" "We're not leaving without you!" "Not gonna happen!" "Never!" we all argued. Big D glared t us.

"Go!" he shouted.

"Marcus, stop them!" Douglas shouted. Marcus sped in front of us in an instant.

"Get out of our way, Marcus!" Chase growled. Marcus chuckled.

"Not a chance. I'm more powerful than all of you." He smirked arrogantly. Adam rolled his eyes.

"Oh, he's lying. I haven't seen him at the gym once!" Adam exclaimed before trying to punch Marcus. That was a mistake.

** Chase's POV **

Adam realized the hard way just how strong Marcus was. He tried to punch Marcus, only for him to stop Adam with ease. Adam gaped for a moment, shocked that Marcus could stop him like that. Then Marcus grabbed him by the collar, lifted him above our heads, and slammed him into the ground.

"Adam!" Bree cried. She and Leo ran to Adam's side to make sure he was okay. I stayed where I was, feeling the boiling anger rush through me. How dare he hurt Adam!

"No one touches my brother, you freak!" I growled at Marcus. He smirked, daring me to attack him. I fell for it, launching forward and attempting to kill him. Marcus dodged both my punches, then punched me hard in the spine. While I was distracted, he grabbed me from behind and the next thing I knew, I was flying through the air. I hit the railings of one of the catwalks, just barely managing to grab on to it in order to stop myself from crashing into the ground.

Marcus sped up onto the catwalk half a second later. "Let's make this fun, huh?" he suggested before kicking me in the ribs, successfully stopping me from pulling myself up. He then walked cheerfully walking over to a control panel and tapping some buttons on it.

I looked down and yelped when I saw the floor beneath me give open up, revealing a massive, human sized saw. "Who has that in their house?" I demanded. Marcus laughed.

"This place used to be a sausage factory! You can fit a whole cow in there!" he grinned. Gulping nervously, I tried to pull myself up, even though I knew it was no use.

"Chase, hold on!" I heard Bree yell. "Leo, go see if any of those buttons will close the floor."

"On it!" He replied just as Marcus hit my hand, making me lose grip. He was about to knock me down completely, but Bree sped into. She then reached over the rail and grabbed my arm. She started to pull me up, but had to let go so that she could dodge one of Marcus' punches. Luckily, I was able to grab onto the rail with both hands again.

I was about to pull myself up when Marcus knocked my hand away. Again. Seriously dude, give me a break! I looked at Leo, who was sitting at the computer consol, Adam slowly making his way over there.

"I think I got it!" Leo called to me. He pressed a button and flames exploded out of the floor. "No, still working on it."

"Well work faster!" I shouted at him. I turned away from Adam and Leo and grabbed onto the rail with both hands just in time to see that Bree and Marcus were still fighting on the catwalk above me. Bree tried to punch Marcus, but instead got pushed into the wall behind her.

"Nice try, cupcake." Ooh. You don't call Bree cupcake. At least, not unless you're suicidal. Bree glared at him, just as he knocked my hand off the rail for the third time.

"Guys, hurry!" I shouted. I wasn't sure how long I would be able to hold on for. Bree kicked Marcus away as he tried to knock me off for good. He jumped, grabbed a bar above him, and swung at her, trying to kick her in the chest. Bree blocked him, and tripped him. He ended up on his back. Bree went to attack him again, but he kicked her in the stomach and sent her to the ground. He looked me in the eye.

"Say goodbye, Chase." He kicked my hand off the rail and I felt myself falling. I heard Adam and Leo shout as I was falling. Thankfully, instead of falling into the flames and the deadly saw, I hit solid ground. It may have knocked the air out of my lungs, but at least I was alive.

Adam ran over to me and I glared up at him. "Ow!" I complained. He offered me his hand and helped me up. Marcus sped onto the ground in front of us, Bree following close behind. Leo ran over to us too, carrying a fire extinguisher.

"Where did you get that?" Adam questioned.

"Calla tried to kill Marcus with it last time we were here and I remembered where it landed." He replied, holding it as if it was a baseball bat. Adam nodded approvingly, then turned to Marcus.

'You might be strong, but let's see you take on all three of us." He challenged as we all started to circle.

"Go ahead, creep. Take your best shot." I dared him. Marcus shrugged.

"Gladly." He replied as a light blue glow came from his hands. He shot it into the air, static electricity coming off of it in waves. Only Leo had the sense to move back. Suddenly, the orb split into three, hitting me and my siblings. It was as if we were hit by lightning, the pain was that strong.

** Leo's POV **

I looked at my siblings worriedly. They were down for the count. I turned to call Big D for help, but he was busy fighting Douglas. I watched as he wrestled with his brother for the remote, until they both hit the rail on the catwalk and the remote fell onto the ground. With Douglas distracted for a brief second, Big D kicked him and knocked him to the ground. Douglas smirked and rolled off the catwalk. He grabbed the remote and jumped to his feet.

"Ha! Now their bionics are all mine!" Douglas exclaimed.

"No!" Big D shouted in despair.

It was over. Douglas had , I heard a voice. And it wasn't imaginary. It was coming from my ear piece.  _"Hey Leo, mind giving me an intro?"_

I laughed. Just when I thought we were all done for, she actually shows up. Classic. I raised my hands at Douglas. "Wait!" I shouted.

"What for?" he demanded, about to click the button on the remote. I grinned.

"I have to say the line 'you won't get away with this'." I explained. He rolled his eyes.

"Who's going to stop me? You?" he laughed. I shook my head, smiling.

"No, she is." I replied with a grin. Douglas and Marcus frowned, unsure if I had gone completely insane. Suddenly, the ceiling above us broke, a large form falling through. Douglas stumbled back, dropping the remote. It was crushed under the foot of the massive exoskeleton.

"Exoskeleton in the house…if you can call this crazy stink hole a house." A familiar voice called, the mask flipping upwards. I glared at her.

"Hey! That's my line!" I snapped.

"Calla?" everyone else gasped. I looked to see that Adam, Bree and Chase getting up slowly. Calla turned to Marcus and Douglas.

"Hey, you DO know that kidnapping is like, really rude, right?" she asked. "Oh, and illegal, but mainly rude."

"You're Donny's assistant, right?" Douglas questioned. Calla rolled her eyes.

"No," she replied sarcastically "I'm just some random kid in an exoskeleton who decided to take on a mad scientist because she was a bored. What do you think?"

"Hey, you want a job?" Douglas offered. Calla pretended to think about it.

"Um, no!" she shot a plasma blast at Douglas, who ducked out of the way. He shot a look at Marcus.

"Deal with her!" he ordered.

"How did Calla know where we were?" Big D questioned, running over to us as Calla shot more blasts at Marcus.

"I needed back up." I explained. "Who else was I supposed to call? The ghost busters?"

"I've had it with you!" Marcus yelled, dragging our attention back to them. He sent a plasma blast at Calla, which sent her flying. She hit the wall behind her, collapsing onto the ground. She struggled for a few moments, trying to get up.

"Worth millions of dollars. Can't stand up. Wonderful." She commented dryly. Marcus advanced towards her, miniature saws sliding out from his fist.

"Don't worry. After I'm through with you, you won't be standing ever again." He promised.

"Leave her alone!" Chase yelled at him. Marcus smiled mockingly.

"Aww, is someone worried about their little girlfriend?" he teased, before stepping closer to our helpless friend.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" Adam yelled. I looked at him in shock. He was shaking with fury. It seemed as if electricity was being drawn to him as the building began to shake.

"Guys? What's happening?" I asked, frightened. Chase and Bree exchanged looks.

"Adam just discovered his hidden ability!" Bree realized. Chase looked at his brother, then at us.

"I think we should get behind him." He suggested, pulling me, Bree, and Big D behind Adam as a large, blue pulse flew from his body. Douglas, Calla, and Marcus were all hit with it. Marcus screamed, stumbling back as he was electrocuted. The exoskeleton seemed to spasm for a second, but then stopped. Douglas wasn't even affected.

Adam grinned. "Wow. All that from one granola bar." He grinned. Seeing that it was safe, Chase bolted to Calla's side, pulling her up. Then we all turned on Douglas.

"Give it up Douglas. It's over." Big D commanded. Douglas looked like he was going to fight us, but changed his mind when the room once again started to shake.

"The ceiling's coming down!" Bree yelled. A piece of the crumbling ceiling fell right next to me, distracting us long enough for Douglas to escape.

"We need to get out of here!" Chase yelled. Marcus stood up, a plasma ball appearing in his hand.

"No one's going anywhere." He shouted over the rumbling. Calla gasped besides me.

"Marcus, look…" she was cut off as the main part of the ceiling broke, burying the android beneath piles of it. "…out." There was no way he could have survived if he was human. Being an android, I wasn't sure.

"Let's get out of here! Now!" Big D started pushing us all out the door, staying in the back in case Marcus was indeed still alive. We ran for it, not stopping until we were in the safety of the lab.

We stood there, gasping. Chase was the first to recover, and started helping Calla get out of the large suit.

"Is everyone alright?" Big D questioned, worriedly. We all nodded in affirmation. The only injuries we got were superficial, nothing that would be a serious problem in the future. I sat down in my chair, Bree in Calla's, and Chase on the counter. The only ones who still stood were Adam, Calla and Big D. There was a moment of silence, then Calla turned to all of us.

"I'm glad you guys are okay." She said quietly, still a little shocked. I didn't blame her; it had been a crazy night. "But since you are, and I can tell there's a sappy family moment coming on, I'm going to head on home."

"Calla…" Chase started. She smiled.

"Oh, don't worry. Tomorrow, I will expect you guys to get down on your knees and grovel for my forgiveness." She assured him. "Oh! And maybe a box of chocolate. But not the Nestle kind. That really good Godiva kind. Yeah, I like that stuff. Then I'll consider forgiving you all for being idiots."

She started to walk out again. I expected Chase to stop her again, but Big D beat him to the punch. "Stop." He ordered. Calla did as she was told, looking at him curiously. "I need to talk to you."

"Okay." Calla walked back over and pulled herself onto the counter next to Chase. "But if this is about what happened to the exoskeleton, you can take it out of my pay check."

"It's worth a million dollars." He told her. Calla shrugged.

"Easy come, easy go." She replied.

"Look guys…" Big D turned to Adam, Bree, and Chase. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kept the truth from you."

"It's alright, we understand." Bree assured him. Big D nodded.

"At least you know now that Douglas is your real father." There was a moment of silence, then Chase slid off the counter.

"No, he's not. You raised us. You're our real dad." He said. We all smiled.

"Come here." Big D held out his arms, and the four of us (minus Calla) hugged him. Suddenly, there was a bright flash. We turned to see Calla holding her camera phone, a grin on her face.

"What? I couldn't resist." She protested. We all chuckled. Big D turned to me.

"As for you, what you did today was really brave. You really did your job as mission specialist. I'm proud of you." He told me. I grinned proudly. Big D turned to Calla.

"Same goes for you. That was absolutely brilliant what you did back there." Calla smiled at his praise.

"Brilliant enough for a raise?" she asked hopefully. Big D shook his head.

"You broke my million dollar exo-skeleton." He reminded her. Her smiled didn't so much as waver.

"Fair enough." She agreed.

"Great, now who wants ice cream?" Big D offered. Adam and I raced to the elevator, Big D and Bree following us.

"I'll be up in a minute. I just want to text my mom first. My excuse was that Leo was in a car crash and that Adam, Bree, and Chase were having panic attacks." Calla called after us. Chase also stayed, most likely because he was still worried about her.

** Chase's POV **

"Are you alright?" I asked Calla worriedly. Her hands were shaking ever so slightly as she sent her mom the message. She nodded.

"Hmm? Oh yeah." She clasped her hands together. "Just a little adrenaline still in my system, I guess."

"What you did today…it was amazing." I commented, sitting down next to her. She shrugged.

"More like reckless." She replied modestly. I chuckled.

"You fought an android and a mad scientist wearing an exoskeleton with the worst possible weapon system in the world. That's brave."

"Reckless." Calla sang softly. I rolled my eyes.

"I still don't know why you did it." I said. Calla frowned at me.

"What do you mean?" she asked, confused.

"You could have gotten killed!" I exclaimed. "And you knew that. But the second Leo told you that we were in trouble, you came to our rescue."

"Chase…" Calla said, but I continued on.

"Well, I guess it makes sense. You really hated Marcus. And revenge is most definitely one of your favourite words." I smirked.

"I didn't come to get revenge on Marcus." Calla told me, smiling gently.

"Yeah, I know. Leo called you-" Calla shook her head.

"I didn't come because he asked me either." I frowned.

"Then you really do have a death wish." I informed her. She laughed, and grabbed my hand.

"Guess again." She told me, pulling me close. I frowned.

"I'm not sure what you mean…" I said slowly. She sighed audibly.

"Wow, for someone so smart, you can be so oblivious." She said. Before I knew what was going on, she was kissing me and I was kissing her back and I felt like I was in heaven.

She pulled away after a minute. I stared at her. "Whoa." I breathed, shocked.

She laughed. "Seriously Chase, I've been waiting, what? A year? Just for you to FINALLY kiss me?"

"Well, I…um…" I stuttered. She got this worried look on her face.

"Uh, you DO feel the same way, right?" I was still a little shocked to find the words. But she took my silence as rejection. "Oh. I-I'm sorry. I just thought…well, that you…I'll just go…"

I finally was able to react when she started to walk away. I grabbed her hand and pulled her back towards me and this time, I was the one kissing her.


	8. Memory Wipe

** Leo's POV **

"I didn't think I would ever say this, but I am SO glad to be back at school!" Calla grinned as we walked into the lobby. "Normalcy has returned!"

I completely agreed with Calla about that. Because of the whole Douglas incident, my mom and Big D had told Adam, Bree, Chase and I to stay home all last week. And because she didn't want us to be lonely (or because she just didn't want to go to school) Calla had faked the flu so she could stay home as well, sneaking over to our house the second her mom left.

It was good to have a break, especially after all that had happened, but we were all going crazy from boredom. And trust me; you do not want four bored teenagers stuck in one house together. It got so bad, my mom had to make another twenty house rules. But hey, it's not my fault Adam just happened to find a grasshopper on the window sill. Why he had kept it and named it George is beyond me.

Big D only added one rule to the list: no making out in the lab. That's directed to Calla and Chase. They're dating now, ever since the Douglas incident. Here's how we found out…

_ Flashback _

" _Hey, do you guys want chocolate syrup and sprinkles on your ice cream?" I asked, walking into the lab. What I saw surprised the hell out of me. Calla and Chase, kissing. They were kissing! Not that we didn't know they were into each other, but still, I did not expect to come down there and find that._

" _Dudes, get a room!" I exclaimed. They pulled apart quickly, Calla's face bright red and Chase glaring at me. Calla narrowed her eyes at me._

" _You DO realize that we were here first, right?" she questioned. I thought about it._

" _True." I agreed. Calla nodded at the elevator._

" _Good. Now shoo." She ordered. I nodded and headed back upstairs._

" _Where are Calla and Chase?" Bree asked, handing me a bowl of ice cream. I smirked._

" _Making out." I replied casually. They all stared at me. "Yeah, you heard me. Challa's officially a thing, people!"_

_ Flashback end _

Yeah, they weren't too happy with me for announcing it to the whole family like that. Especially since we kept making fun of them for it. But even that got old quickly.

So basically, we were all happy to get out of the house, even if it meant going back to prison, I mean school. "Hey guys!" Jessica called, running over to us. She looked very happy, happier than normal.

"Hey Jess, what's up?" Adam asked. Jessica blushed, as she always did when Adam spoke to her.

"Well, since you guys weren't here last week, I figured I should be the one to tell you. Rhys Goldwin's birthday is on Friday and he's throwing a party. The entire school's invited." She explained.

"Rhys Goldwin? Captain of the soccer team?" Bree gasped. Jessica nodded eagerly. "OH MY GOD! I totally forgot!"

"Well, obviously. Why did you think I came over here to remind you?" Jessica laughed. I frowned.

"I'm sorry, which one's Rhys again?" I asked. Bree rolled her eyes.

"The tall good-looking one with brown hair and dreamy eyes." She snapped impatiently. Jessica turned to Calla.

"You know, rumour is he thinks you're cute." She told her. Calla smirked.

"Well then," she said thoughtfully. "That really sucks for him seeing as I'm taken."

Jessica frowned, not noticing how Calla slipped her hand into Chase's. "Taken? By who?"

"Me." Chase replied, grinning. Jessica looked between the two, and then squealed.

"It's about time!" she exclaimed, hugging Calla. I looked at Jessica.

"Um, I think you owe me some money?" I reminded her with a smirk on my face. Jessica scowled.

"Way to ruin the moment, Dooley." She muttered, pulling out a ten dollar bill. Chase and Calla looked offended.

"You guys bet on whether or not we would get together?" Chase demanded. Jessica rolled her eyes.

"Uh, no. Leo bet that you guys would be a couple before the end of the semester. I bet that you guys would get together sometime in the second semester. Duh." She replied. Calla glared at her. "Oh, don't give me that look. You've bet on my love life before."

Calla opened her mouth to object, then sighed. "I hate it when you make points that I can't argue."

Chase chuckled. "Come on; we'd better get to class." He said, pulling Calla with him to their first period math class.

"See you later, Leo." Jessica told me as she, Adam, and Bree walked off to English. I, unfortunately, had chemistry all by myself.

"Good morning, Leo." Mr. Johnson greeted as I walked into class.

"Morning." I replied, heading to my seat. Mr. Johnson stopped me.

"Sorry Leo, but you might be unaware that Marcus Jameson is no longer with us." Marcus' picture was in the newspaper last week, saying that he died in a tragic car accident. It was better this way. People at least deserved to know that he was gone.

Even though he had plotted against us for so long, kidnapped Adam, Bree, Chase and Big D, and tried to kill all of us, he didn't deserve to die. I kind of felt sorry for the guy, but there wasn't anything I could do now.

"Yeah, I heard. It's terrible." I replied. Mr. Johnson nodded.

"Well, seeing as you two were lab partners, we're going to have to assign you a new partner. Unless you'd prefer to work alone?" I shook my head.

"Nah, I'm fine with a new partner." I told him. He nodded.

"Well, Janelle's working alone currently, so you can work with her from now on." He gestured to the empty seat next to Janelle. Trying not to grin like a lovesick fool, I nodded, grabbed my stuff, and sat down next to her.

"Mr. Johnson says I'm your new lab partner." I told her. She nodded.

"So, did you hear about Rhys' party?" Janelle asked, smiling.

"Yeah, are you going?" I smiled. She nodded.

"Maybe we can hang out." She suggested. I nodded.

"Maybe we can." I agreed. This party was going to be awesome!

** Xxx **

"We are going to be in so much trouble with Mr. Davenport! We're two hours past curfew and the lights are already off." Chase exclaimed as we ran up the front steps. The party had been wickedly awesome. So awesome, that we lost track of time. Only when Jaden offered to give us all a drive home did we realize how late it was.

"We are bionic teenagers that go on top secret missions." Bree said with a smirk. "Okay, I'm pretty sure we can sneak past an out of shape, middle aged man."

She had a point there. "Alright, but just to be safe, I'll use my bionic vision to scan inside." Chase offered, before focusing on the door. He stared at it for a few moments. "All clear. They must be asleep."

I smiled. Some good luck! "Good, but we've got to be super quiet."

Chase grinned. "Sneaking in after curfew. This will totally boost my bad boy cred." What bad boy cred? "Tippy-toes people. Tippy-toes."

Bree smirked as Chase opened the door. "Spoken like a true bad boy." She joked as we snuck in.

We quietly made our way across the room. Just as we reached the kitchen however, the lights came on. "Busted!"

"AHH!" We screamed in surprised, spinning around to find the source of the voice. There was no one there. Suddenly, as if by magic, Big D appeared in his favourite chair, wearing a silver cloak. "AH!"

"Ha!" he laughed, very proud of himself for scaring the crap out of us like that. Chase stared at him.

"I don't get it! I scanned the room!" he exclaimed. Big D smirked.

"And I foiled you with my invisibility cloak. Again, I say 'Ha!'" He replied. I knew I had seen that cloak before! I once used it to sneak into Principal Perry's office, but that's a long story that I won't get into now.

"Well, you got us." I admitted. "Goodnight." We all ran to escape, but Big D stopped us.

"You are all grounded. Three weeks." Big D told us.

"What?" "That's not fair!" "Come on!" "Is that all you've got?" We all stared at Adam. Why would he say that?

"Look, you guys have no idea what it's like raising teenagers!" Big D retorted. We all sighed, but Adam's face lit up.

"He can't ground me if he can't see me!" he exclaimed, running past us. He grabbed a blanket off the couch, then ran into the closed door. He stumbled back in surprise. "I didn't grab the invisibility cloak, did I?"

"Nope." I replied. Chase rolled his eyes.

"Adam, you do realize that invisibility isn't the same as intangibility, right?" he questioned. Adam pulled off the blanket, then looked at Chase with a confused expression. "You do realize that being invisible doesn't mean you can walk through doors, right?" Chase clarified. Adam frowned.

"It doesn't? Darn." He muttered. Big D rolled his eyes.

"Bed, all of you. Now." He ordered. We all sighed and did as we were told.

** Chase's POV **

"Do you have any fours?" Calla asked. I sighed and handed her one of my cards. Adam sighed.

"I hate being grounded." He complained. "Are the three weeks over yet?"

"It hasn't even been a day." Bree reminded him dully. Leo frowned.

"Wait, there's something I don't get." He said. He turned to Calla. "You're parents are even more strict than ours, and your curfew is the same. How did you not get grounded?"

Calla rolled her eyes. "Because, unlike you geniuses, Jaden and I had the sense to climb in through my window rather than walk in through our front door." She replied, shaking her head. "Seriously, what were you thinking?"

"Well-" Leo started, but was cut off by Mr. Davenport as he ran into the room.

"Guys! Guys! I did it!" he exclaimed very happily. "I finally did it!"

"Graduated to big boy shoes?" Leo guessed excitedly. Mr. Davenport still smiled.

"No, I finally achieved something I have wanted my whole life. I won the presidential medal for scientific achievement!"

"That's great." I congratulated him. Adam nodded.

"I think I got one of those for doing push ups in gym class." He commented. Mr. Davenport looked at him.

"I don't think so." He said. Adam smiled.

"Oh, yeah. You're right; it was pull ups." He corrected himself. Mr. Davenport ignored him.

"This is the highest honour a scientist can receive. My picture is gonna be plastered online, offline…If there's a line, my face is gonna be on it."

We all looked at him. "What did you win it for?" I asked. Mr. Davenport grinned.

"My neuroscrambler." He answered, holding up the small, hand held device. "This thing is going to revolutionize the field of neurology."

"Huh?" Adam was confused, as always.

"The brain." Calla simplified it for him. Leo looked at Mr. Davenport.

"How's it work?" he asked curiously.

"It can erase specified time increments of neuron associations in the cerebral cortex." Mr. Davenport explained. Judging by the blank looks one everyone's face, Calla and I were the only ones that understood.

"Huh?" Adam asked again. I sighed.

"The brain!" I snapped. He nodded.

"Oh!" I was starting to think that rocks were smarter than my brother.

"Basically, it helps doctors erase bad memories." Mr. Davenport explained in simpler terms. Calla looked at Mr. Davenport.

"I'm guessing that my 30% contribution wasn't mentioned when you submitted it for judging?" she assumed. He hesitated, but was saved from answering her because Tasha ran in.

"Congrats, Donald! I got your text about the presidential award!" she exclaimed, hugging him. "Gosh, this is so exciting. What a big break for us."

"Us?" Mr. Davenport questioned.

"I was thinking I could interview you for my TV station." Tasha explained. "Local reporter lands presidential award winner: A Tasha Davenport exclusive. This could be a really big break."

"Yeah, it would be a really big break for you." We winced. Wow, Tasha did not look happy. "I mean it would really help your faltering career. No, I mean you'd finally get to cover something that finally matters."

We were all shaking our heads at him. "You know what? You have got yourself an interview." He said. Tasha glared at him. "And a new pair of shoes?" still glaring. "Just take my wallet. Just take it."

Tasha smiled, took the wallet and left. Mr. Davenport turned to us.

"Dude, that was just pathetic. Seriously, pathetic." Calla commented. Mr. Davenport glared at her. "Hey, you forgot to mention my work on a project that won you a major award. I think I have the right to make fun of you a little!" Calla exclaimed.

** Leo's POV **

Eventually, Adam, Bree, and I gave up trying to entertain ourselves in the lab. So about three hours later, we all sat in the living room, doing absolutely nothing. Chase and Calla were still downstairs, probably enjoying their alone time together.

"Has it been three weeks yet?" Adam asked, again. Bree sighed.

"Stop! I hate being grounded! I am missing Stella Jordon's birthday party and I SO want to be there when she DOESN'T get a car."

Adam and I laughed just as Calla and Chase ran into the room. "Guys! I have an idea!" Chase whispered. Calla elbowed him. "We have an idea."

We got up and walked over to them. Calla was holding Big D's neuroscrambler in her hands.

"We can sue the neuroscrambler to erase twenty four hours of Mr. Davenport's memory." Chase explained with a grin. Bree stared at him.

"Sneaking in past curfew, disobeying authority…" she looked at Calla. "What did you do to Chase?"

Chase smirked and Calla laughed. Adam grinned."No, I see where he's going with this." He said. "Mr. Davenport will forget he bought groceries yesterday, he'll go again today, and then we'll have double the food!"

"Or, he'll forget that he grounded you guys." Calla suggested.

"We'll see which one pans out." Adam replied. Bree frowned.

"This sounds really risky. If Mr. Davenport catches us, we'll be grounded for life." She warned.

"But if he doesn't, we'll never get grounded again." Chase told her. Adam grinned.

"Plus, double the groceries!" He exclaimed. We ignored him.

"Wait, so we're just going to zap the guy?" I confirmed. Chase nodded.

"Don't worry; it's perfectly safe." Chase assured me. Bree rolled her eyes.

"How do you know?" she asked.

"Bree, please. I'm the smartest guy in the world." He bragged.

"You have no idea, do you?" Bree asked.

"Nope, just wanna get out of the house." Chase replied. Calla lifted up the device.

"Calibrating to twenty-four hours." She said, then jogged off to where Big D was reading a book. We followed her.

"Hey there, what are you reading?" she asked, an innocent smile on her face.

"Oh, I'm on the last page of this biography of the guy who was born the cousin of the Queen of Spain…" Big D started to explain.

Calla smiled. "Fascinating." She grinned, hitting a button on the neuroscrambler. There was a flash of blue light. When it died away, Big D had a confused look on his face.

"That's weird, I just lost my train of thought." He said slowly. Bree took advantage of his confusion.

"Oh, I…I just asked you if I could go to Stella Jordon's birthday party." She lied. Big D frowned.

"Of course you can." He replied, confused as to why we were asking permission. I grinned.

"Yes, it worked!" I exclaimed. Big D looked at us.

"What worked?" he questioned. Adam laughed.

"We just zapped your brain with your thingy and erased your memory!" he explained. Big D glared at us.

"Erased my memory? Have you guys been messing with my neuroscrambler?" he demanded. Bree smiled.

"No…" she lied, taking the neuroscrambler from Calla and changing the settings on it from twenty-four hours to sixty seconds.

"That thing is not a toy!" Big D continued. "You guys are grounded and-" he was cut off by the device's flash. "That's weird, I lost my train of thought."

We all grinned, relieved. "Hey, can Calla and I go to the movies?" Chase asked, putting an arm around his girlfriend. Big D frowned, confused.

"Of course you can." This was awesome! Adam grabbed the device out of Bree's hand.

"Hey, I want to try this." He grinned. Big D looked at him.

"Try what?" He asked. Adam's grin grew.

"Oh! Humus!" he exclaimed, dipping his fingers in and eating some of it.

"Adam, don't do that!" Big D exclaimed, disgusted. "Now, no one can eat-" Adam hit the button and the device lit up. "Oh, humus!" Big D grinned, dipping a carrot in the bowl.

We all laughed. "And just like that, we're free." Chase grinned.

"See, you Big D!" I called as we ran to the door. "We're going to tag along on Calla and Chase's date!"

"Okay, be back by nine." He replied. I looked at him. Nine? You've got to be kidding.

"Yeah nine. Right." There was no way we were going to be by even ten, let alone nine.

** Xxx **

"Hey, Big D?" I called, walking into the lab. He was sitting at his desk, working on some project.

"Hey Leo." He hardly looked up.

"Listen, I need you to sign my progress report for me." I handed him the slip of paper, hoping he would just sign it without looking. He took the paper, went to sign it, then stopped.

"Wait, a C in history?" Big D looked at me.

"Yeah, I like to start low and work my way up." I joked. "Let's the teachers think they're making an impact. It's my way of giving back."

Big D was not amused. He took the paper from me. "Leo, I've got to show this to your mom."

"Well, I've got fifteen dollars and forty-two cents in my wallet that says you don't." I pulled out my wallet and waved it in front of his face.

"Sorry Leo, just yesterday your mother and I agreed we were going to start cracking down on your school work."

Why? Did they hate me? I was about to complain when I noticed the neuroscrambler sitting on the shelf next to him. "Yesterday, you say?" I confirmed. "And what time was that exactly?"

"I don't know, during breakfast I guess." He replied, still working on the project. I nodded, quickly changing the settings on the device.

"So, about twenty-four hours ago, correct?" I asked. Big D looked up finally.

"Why?" He noticed the neuroscrambler in my hand. "Hey, don't play with that. It-"

I hit the button, flashing him in the face. He stared for a while. "Whoa. What happened? This is weird."

"You were just telling me how thrilled you are that I'm doing so well in school." I lied. He was still looking around the lab, completely confused.

"Why would I care? I don't even know you dude." I stared at him.

"Dude?" I repeated. Since when did he consider 'dude' an actual word? He shrugged, and I realized what else he had said. What did he mean when he said he didn't know me?

I looked down at the neuroscrambler and stared at it. Oops. I typed in twenty-four years instead of hours. I looked at Big D. "How old are you?" I questioned.

"Fifteen." He replied. I screamed and he stared at me. Oh man, oh man, oh man! I've screwed up before, but this was bad!

"GUYS!" I shouted, running into the elevator and speeding to the top floor. I found them on the couch, watching TV. "We have a problem!"

They all looked up. "What is it?" Bree asked. At that moment, Big D came speeding into the room on a wheelie chair. Rockets were attached to the back, and he went flying into the wall. Bree and Chase looked at me, horrified.

"So, what's the problem?" Like usual, Adam was missing the obvious. Calla, on the other hand, looked mildly offended.

"Wait, so I'm not allowed to build rocket chairs, but you are? Not fair!" she yelled at Big D. He ignored her, spinning and shooting around the room.

"Leo, what is going on?" Bree demanded. I frowned guiltily.

"You know that neruo-thing that we were ALL playing with?" I asked. Chase nodded.

"Yes." He replied.

"I tried to erase twenty-four hours and I accidently erased twenty-four years." I told them. "He's fifteen!"

"Whoa! This place is sick!" Big D exclaimed from where he was still playing on his rocket chair. He got off it after spinning around for several minutes. "And now I'm gonna be sick." He ran and vomited into a houseplant.

"I don't know why they gave him that presidential medal. This thing is faulty.:" I announced, tossing the device onto the couch.

"The device is fine!" Calla snapped. "You're the problem. You Leo-ed this up!"

"Hey, don't you turn my name into a verb." I snapped at her as Big D ran up behind me.

"Okay, who are you people, and how did I get here?" He questioned. I guess he got tired of acting like an idiot.

"Look, I know this is a lot for you to take in, but your mind lost twenty-four years of it's memory because of a device that you created." Chase explained. Big D stared at him.

"Whoa…" he looked around curiously. He picked up Chase's cell phone from the table. "What's that?" he asked.

"That's my phone." Chase replied. Big D stared at him.

"Whoa…" he repeated, tapping some buttons on it. I turned to Calla.

"Tell me you can fix this." I begged. She rolled her eyes.

"Well, duh." She replied. "Well, probably."

"Probably?" I repeated. She shrugged.

"The device was meant to erase memories, not restore. But I remember how he created the device, so it should be an easy rewiring fix." She replied.

Suddenly, Chase's ringtone went off. Big D handed the phone back to Chase. "I think you've got a phone call."

Chase held the phone up to his ear, but before he could speak, he got electrocuted. Big D and Adam laughed.

"Burn!" Big D laughed. "I'm a total tech wiz! I took that thing apart and rewired it and turned it into a zapper!"

He and Adam high fived. "That's not funny! Turn it back!" Chase demanded. Big D sighed.

"I'm sorry." He apologized. "Just press 3 and it will turn back into a regular phone."

Chase sighed and pressed the button, only to get electrocuted again. This time, it looked worse. Adam grinned and turned to Chase.

"I like him better this way. Can we keep him?" he begged hopefully. Chase looked at him.

"Adam, he's not a dog." He reminded him. We looked at Big D, who was currently licking peanut butter out of the jar.

"Yeah, he's pretty much a dog." Adam said with a grin. Chase rolled his eyes.

"Let's just fix him already." He snapped, reaching for the neuroscrambler at the same time as Calla. They looked at each other.

"I've got this." Chase said, pulling on the device. Calla smiled.

"No, I do." She replied, trying to take the device from him. We all took a step back – the love birds were about to become angry birds.

"Yes, but I think I know what I'm doing." Chase told her. Calla looked at him.

"I know better than you! I worked on the device." She argued, pulling on it a little harder. Chase pulled it back.

"Yes, but I'm smarter than you." He said. We all grimaced. Telling Calla that she wasn't as smart as you was equal to handing a robber a gun and taunting him. Even if he was smarter than her.

"Give it Chase!" Calla shouted, pulling on the device. Chase pulled back and it went flying out off heir hands. One of them must have hit the button, because there was a flash, and Calla had a blank look on her face. The neuroscrambler dropped to the ground, but none of us went to grab it. We just stared at Calla, who stared back.

"Chase…did you just…" Bree trailed off. Chase looked horrified.

"I'm so dead. I'm beyond dead." He muttered. "She is so going to kill me."

Calla looked around. "Who're you?" she asked curiously. Chase gulped.

"Calla?" she turned to face him. "Can you tell us how old you are?"

Calla seemed to think about it for a while. "Five! And three quarters!" She exclaimed. I frowned, and grabbed the device.

"It must have glitched when it erased her memory." Chase realized. "She doesn't have twenty-four years of memory to erase, so it erased ten instead."

"Great, the only two people who know how to fix it have lost their memories!" I shouted. Calla frowned and covered her ears.

"No yelling." She told me. "Yelling's bad."

I looked at Chase. "You do realize that if we don't fix this, your next date will be at Chucky Cheese's, right?" Before he could answer, my mom walked into the room.

"Hey guys." She greeted. Big D looked at us.

"Who's that? Your grandma?" he asked. We all put our fingers to our lips. Even Calla, but I think she was just mimicking us.

"What's going on?" Mom asked, suspicious. Big D shrugged.

"Nothing much, nana, what's up with you?" he asked. We shushed him again. Mom stared at him.

"What did you say, Donald?" she asked. Big D looked surprised.

"You know me? Who are you?" he asked. Mom looked really confused, so I faked a laugh.

"He's kidding!" Bree exclaimed. "We're playing a game and it's called 'who are you' and what I would like to know is who are you?"

My mom stared at her. "Yeah Mom, who are you?" I asked, hoping that she would think this was stupid and walk away.

"A person with no patience for stupid games." She replied with a glare. I looked at Bree.

"Sarcasm. Let's add that to her list." I told her. Bree smiled and we all laughed. Thankfully, my mom didn't notice Adam dragging Calla and Big D out of the room.

** Chase's POV **

Ten minutes. It took Adam, Calla, and Mr. Davenport ten minutes to essentially destroy the lab. I had to admit; that was a new record.

We walked into the lab to find all of the inventions everywhere, some of them torn apart from spare parts. Adam and Mr. Davenport were building/breaking things while Calla was drawing pictures on Mr. Davenport's important documents.

"Guys, what are you doing?" I demanded. "You're ruining your million dollar technology!"

"If by ruining, you mean making awesome!" Mr. Davenport replied. Adam grinned.

"Unlike the other Davenport, this one invents cool stuff." He told me.

"Check this out!" Mr. Davenport grinned and ran over to his oxygen powered fire hose.

"I took this useless thingy-" he started, but I cut him off.

"That useless thingy was going to revolutionize firefighting!" I exclaimed.

"Well, now it's going to revolutionize grilled meat!" he grinned. Adam pulled a stick out of a drawer.

"Kabob me, teen D!" he exclaimed. Mr. Davenport hit a button and balls of meat flew from the device onto Adam's stick. Adam took a bite.

"I finally get science! This is saving lives!" he told us. Mr. Davenport smiled.

"So is this." I had no idea what he was talking about until I felt something grab the back of my underpants. Seconds later I was lifted a foot off the ground in a painful way. "Why create an artificial arm when you can create and artificial wedgie machine?"

Calla giggled and pointed at me. "Chase funny!" she said between giggles. I tried not to glare at her.

"What's in our capsules?" Bree questioned suddenly. I looked and saw her staring at our capsules, all three filled to the brim with a colourful mixture.

"Capsules? I think you mean giant smoothie makers." Mr. Davenport corrected her. Adam smiled.

"I finally can use my gigantic straw!" he said, pulling out the novelty straw Calla got him for his last birthday. He shoved it inside my capsule and started drinking.

"Hey Baby C, you want any?" Adam asked, glancing at Calla. She looked up from her drawing.

"Chocolate?" she asked hopefully. Even as a five year old, Calla really liked her sugar.

"Uh, no. I've got strawberry, orange and lemon-lime." He replied. Calla frowned, then looked at me with a smile.

"Can I have a cookie, please?" she asked. I shook my head.

"I don't have any cookies." I replied. Her smile fell from her face, her lip quivering as tears entered the corners of her eyes. Oh, crap, she was gonna cry. "But I can get you some!" I said quickly.

Her tears disappeared. "Yay!" she shouted happily. I looked at Mr. Davenport.

"Can you let me down?" I questioned. He sighed.

"Sorry, just push that little button on the back." He told me. I reached behind to hit the button, and felt as if I was hit by lightning. Mr. Davenport laughed. "Haha! Funnier every time!"

Suddenly, he hit a button and the arm released me. I hit the floor with a groan just as Tasha walked in. "What is going on?" she demanded. "Donald, why aren't you dressed for the interview? We go live at five."

"Live at five?" Calla repeated. "Hey! That rhymes!" she giggled.

"Wait, the interview is today?" Bree gasped. We had all thought it was tomorrow. Tasha smiled.

"Yeah, I was hoping for national coverage, but get this; we are going worldwide." Oh, crap.

"What?!" we all demanded. Tasha didn't hear the panic in our voices.

"A rep from the white house is flying out to present you with the medal during the interview." She exclaimed. "We go live one hour from now."

Adam gasped and checked the clock on his phone. "That's one hour from now!" he exclaimed. We ignored him.

"It's going to be the highlight of my career!" Tasha continued. Leo looked worried.

"It's definitely going to go viral." He commented. Mr. Davenport looked just as excited as Tasha.

"I am going to be one TV! Sweet!" He looked at Adam "Kabob me!"

Adam hit the button and both Tasha and Mr. Davenport were bombed with pieces of meat. Tasha looked absolutely disgusted.

"Why don't you go upstairs Mom?" Leo suggested. "We'll get Big D ready for his interview."

"You'd better." She ordered, walking to the elevator. Man, this was going to be a problem.

** Leo's POV **

"Okay, I know you have no idea what's going on, but I need you to get through this interview as if you were an adult." I told Big D. Adam, Bree and I were getting him ready, while Chase was downstairs trying to fix the neuroscrambler/babysit his girlfriend.

"Got it." Big D nodded. "Would you rather a British accent or a fake moustache? Because I can do both." He put a finger under his lip as if it was a moustache. "Hello, this is my finger." He said in a terrible British accent.

"Guys!" Chase shouted, running towards us with the neuroscrambler in his hand. "I figured out how to get his memories back! See, if we recalibrate the app-"

Bree cut off him off. "Blah, blah, you're smart. Just do it!" she ordered. Chase nodded and zapped Big D with the device. His face went blank.

"Are you still fifteen years old?" I asked.

"No." Big D replied. We all cheered. "I'm this many!" he held up four fingers. We all stopped.

"You're four!" Bree exclaimed.

"Four and a half!" he argued. Adam grinned.

"Cool, I have a new little brother!" he exclaimed. Big D got up from his seat.

"Toys!" he demanded, looking for something to play with. He picked up one of my mom's plastic fruits. "Oh, apple!"

I grabbed Chase by his arms. "Fix this nerd. Fix it." I ordered. Chase looked annoyed with himself.

"Man! I totally Leo-ed this up!" he complained. I stared at him. Seriously?

"We're live in five…four…" I didn't have time to argue with him because my mom was already counting down to the interview. Adam pushed Big D onto the couch next to her. I looked at Chase.

"Hey, um, did you leave Calla all by herself in the lab full of dangerous inventions and power tools?" I questioned. Chase froze.

"Oh, crap." We were saying that a lot tonight. He ran downstairs to the lab. I looked back at the interview. My mom was talking.

"...winner of the presidential award for scientific achievement." She was saying.

"I also won a T-ball trophy with a guy on it that goes like this." He stood up and struck a pose. We all avoided looking at the camera.

"Right, we'll get to your childhood shortly." My mom assured him as he stared into the camera. "Now what most people would like to know is how did you…" she trailed off as Big D advanced on the camera, making weird faces at it. "Donald?"

"Is he alright? Or am I going to have to scrambler a couple of fighter jets?" The lady from the white house (let's call her Ellen) asked.

My mom laughed nervously. "He's fine. He rarely does interviews."

"What a surprise." Ellen said sarcastically.

My mom grabbed Big D and kicked him in the leg. He started to cry. "Meanie!" he sobbed. My mom faked a smile.

"Stay on me." She told the camera. "Stay on me. Mr. Davenport began his career by tinkering in a small garage." My mom stopped when Big D threw a pillow at her face. He laughed into the camera.

"She said tinker!" he laughed. Ellen did not look amused.

"Okay, I'm calling the president. He may want to withdraw the award." She said. Bree looked at me and Adam.

"We've got to stop this!" she told us. I looked at Adam, an idea coming to mind.

"Adam, go behind that camera and take it out with your heat vision!" I told him. He looked at me as if I was the idiot.

"No way! Baby Davenport is cracking me up!" he grinned. I looked and saw that Big D was pretending to be an evil robot.

"Fire your eyes now!" I hissed to Adam. He sighed and did as I asked. The camera crashed to the floor, smocking.

"Great." My mom muttered. "Cut to commercial! Go get another camera out of the van!" She turned to Big D. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"

"No one raises their voice to Megatracktoid!" Big D said, pretending to shoot my mom.

"Oh, I'm about to put Megatracktoid down!" she threatened. Big D looked frightened.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey…" we intervened. "Mom, keep it together. Keep it together. Anchor lady face. Anchor lady face." She faked a smile. "We're going to take a hard five, we'll be right back."

We raced Big D down to the lab. "Am I in a space ship?" Big D gasped. "Are those space bathrooms?"

He pointed at the capsules. Adam smiled. "Sometimes." He replied with a grin. Calla, who had been playing with my action figures, looked at Big D.

"No, it's a submarine!" she corrected him. "He told me!" she pointed at Chase. We looked at him.

"She wouldn't shut up! What else was I supposed to tell her?" He demanded. Meanwhile, Big D took one of the action figures from Calla.

"Give that back!" she screamed. He shook his head.

"No!" he replied, running away. Calla ran after him as my mom stormed into the room.

"What is going on?" She demanded. "I want answer and do not lie to me; I'll know. Leo!"

"She'll know!" I yelled at them as I tried to get Big D and Calla out of the capsules.

Chase sighed. "Okay, the neuroscrambler erased thirty-three years of Mr. Davenport's memory and ten of Calla's. However, I think I can get it all back." He told her. My mom glared at him.

"You think?" she hissed. Chase nodded fearfully. "That white house rep is walking out of here with that medal if we don't get it together. Not to mention I am blowing the biggest interview of my career! FIX DONALD! Leo!"

I looked at them. "FIX DONALD!" I ordered. My mom stormed out of the room.

"I got it!" Chase exclaimed. "I reversed the neuroscrambler by taking it apart and repurposing it like Mr. Davenport did with his inventions. Which means, you'll all get to sit down tonight because I just saved your butts!"

"Just do it!" I shouted, grabbing Calla and Big D to stop them from climbing into what I think was a high tech garbage can. Chase flashed the neuroscrambler in their faces and we stared at them, praying.

"That's weird, I just lost my train of thought." "What the hell is going on?" they said at the same time. Chase looked at them.

"How old are you?" he asked cautiously. Mr. Davenport looked around the lab while Calla was trying to fill in the blanks in her memory. "Old enough to know that you numbskulls have Leo-ed up my lab!" Big D exclaimed furiously.

"Okay, that stops now!" I ordered. How dare they turn my name into a verb!

"Hey, we did not make any of this mess. It was all you." Bree told him.

"Well, technically, it was baby Davenport." Adam corrected her.

"Well, technically, it was teen Davenport." Chase informed him.

"Baby? Teen? What are you talking about?" Big D demanded. Calla crossed her arms, smirking.

"Well, they erased your memory to get out being grounded, which actually worked pretty well, but then Leo accidently wiped twenty-four years off of your memory. That's where the teen Davenport comes in. And I'm guessing that baby Davenport comes in later, but I wouldn't know because SOMEONE" She glared at Chase "erased my memory before I could fix the problem."

"What?" Big D demanded. "Is that true?"

"Traitor!" we all glared at Calla. She shook her head, amused.

"Hey, you guys Leo-ed this all up and erased my memory. This is my way of getting back at you."

"Yes, it's true. But we learned something very important." I looked at Big D. "You were right; it is not easy raising teenagers. Are we good?"

He stared at me for a while. "NO! You are grounded! Forever!"

Adam looked at us. "I've got this." He told us, taking the device from Big D. "Mr. Davenport, would you say you got angry about thirty seconds ago?"

"Give me that!" He snapped, snatching the neuroscrambler away from Adam. He then stormed upstairs to deal with Tasha. Calla looked around the room.

"No seriously, I remember like, nothing. What happened in here, and why do I feel the sudden craving for cookies?" she asked.


	9. Not Robots

** Jaden's POV **

"Wait, what?" I asked, laughing. Okay, so Mom and Dad went to visit Aunt Nicole and Uncle George this weekend. Calla and I both had a lot of homework to do so we stayed home. Well actually, I had homework. She was working on something secret for work. Again.

Seriously, it was annoying. Before she got that job, Calla told me everything. But then she took the job and got all secretive. Then Adam, Bree, and Chase showed up. Not that they're bad people; I like two of them very much. I didn't like the way that the short one had a thing for Calla, but Adam and Bree were pretty cool.

And then, Calla started…acting differently. Lying to me about stupid things, ditching classes, making up terrible excuses for why she had to run over to the Davenport's house at the most random of times. It was seriously weird.

But tonight was one of the normal nights. Calla had suggested that she do all my math homework for me and in exchange, I had to take her out for ice cream. I agreed; we'd been making this type of deal ever since she could count and it had become a sort of tradition by this point. But besides that, it was cool. No boyfriends, no girlfriends, no secrets, no confusing math problems. Just hanging out like we used to. Anyway, we were on our way back home, and she was telling me the most bizarre story about her friend Rebeccka.

"Like I said, Becky shows up ten minutes late for class this morning. And when she does arrive, she's wearing a red Teletubies costume." Calla repeated her story with a smirk. I laughed.

"Why?" I questioned. Calla shrugged.

"She said she was late because she overslept, but I've got no clue why she was wearing the costume." She replied, as I pulled into the driveway. She hopped out of the vehicle and I followed.

"Didn't anyone ask her?" I asked. Calla nodded.

"Oh, we did. But she only replied with 'why  _aren't_  you wearing a Teletubie costume?' After a while, we gave up trying to understand what was wrong with her." Calla answered, heading towards the house. She stopped at the front door, unlocking it. "Oh, Jay? I left my bag in the back seat. Can you grab it for me?"

"Sure." I replied, jogging back to the car. Just as I pulled it out, I heard Calla scream.

"JADEN!" She screamed. Without even thinking, I ran towards the house. I pushed open the door. Calla was lying on the floor, motionless. I started towards her, but pain erupted in the back of my head, then, there was nothing.

** Xxx **

I groaned, coming back to my senses. I found myself tied to a chair, in the middle of some old laboratory. It was filthy, every inch covered in dirt and dust. We were surrounded by rubble, bricks and scrap metal. In the corner, there was what appeared to be a large glass cage, the top of it shattered. The remains of what was probably a computer lay at my feet.

"Calla?" My little sister was tied to a chair in front of me, unconscious. I kicked her a couple of times in the shin to wake her up. She moaned in response. "Calla? Time to wake up, CeeCee." I tried. Using her old nickname drove her absolutely nuts.

"I told you not to call me CeeCee…" she trailed off, raising her head. She looked around. "Oh fuck."

"Calla?" she was looking around, wide eyed. She had this terrified look in her eyes. "Calla, everything's going to be alright." I promised her.

"Jay, you have no idea what's going on, so you can't promise that." She snapped at me. I rolled my eyes.

"Calla, calm down." I told her. "Let me think."

"I don't think that's going to help you." A voice called. I looked behind me, at the source. A man was walking towards us, a smirk on his face. He was rather short, but his crazy, spiky hair sort of made up for his lack of height.

"Who are you?" I demanded. Calla shrunk back in her chair, muttering curses under her breath. The guy rolled his eyes and looked at my sister.

"Hello, Miss Parker." He greeted. Calla sighed.

"Douglas. You're looking as ugly as ever." She muttered in greeting. I frowned.

"Calla, you know this guy?" I asked. She shrugged.

"We…met. Once." She admitted. Douglas laughed.

"By met, you mean that you helped destroy my lab and ruin my chance to be reunited with my children." He corrected. Calla laughed.

"Yeah, that was fun. Best night of my life, but let's not do it again." She grinned.

"I'm sorry, what?" I demanded. "Calla, what is going on?"

"Stay out of this Jaden." Calla told me.

"Sort of already in it." I snapped. Douglas laughed.

"Is he seriously clueless?" he questioned. "About everything?"

"Oh, totally You should probably just let him go." Calla told him.

"Oh, don't worry. I'll let both of you go." Douglas assured her. Calla frowned.

"Really? Sorry if I sound a bit skeptical, but bad guys don't tend to let their captives go, and you're sort of crazy, so..." She trailed off. Douglas rolled his eyes.

"I will let you go. You just have to do one little thing for me first." He replied. Calla laughed darkly.

"Oh really? And what's that? Torture children, build a bomb? Oh! Oh! You're going to have me club baby seals aren't you!" she exclaimed, fake excitement on her face. Douglas rolled his eyes and pulled out his phone.

"You're going to have one of my kids pick you up. Just one. No back up allowed." Calla frowned.

"Counter offer. You let us both go, and I'll try to keep Chase from murdering your ass." She replied, a smile on her face. I frowned at her. Did she seriously think her nerd of a boyfriend could even so much as hurt this guy? Maybe she'd been hit harder than I thought.

"No. I like my deal better." Douglas told her, holding out the phone.

"But I don't." Calla replied. "And anyway, you're not my boss. You can't tell me what to do."

"I think in this situation, I can." Douglas glared at her. Calla paid not attention to his growing frustration.

"Hey, any time you guys want to let me in on what's going on, let me know." I said in a fake cheerful voice. They both ignored me.

"By the way, you should seriously think of hiring a maid. Seriously, this place is a mess and it still smells like Jaden's gym locker." Calla wrinkled her nose. "Seriously, what died…oh. Right. Never mind." She frowned as if she suddenly remembered something. I couldn't help but wonder; had something or someone died down here?

"Either you make the call, or I do." Douglas threatened. Calla shrugged.

"It's up to you dude. But I'm pretty sure they blocked your number. I wouldn't blame them if they did. Who'd want to get spam calls from Evil Davenport?" she asked. I stared at her.

"Sorry, did you just say Evil  _Davenport_?" I demanded. She smiled guiltily. "Oh, okay. We're both about to die because of your stupid job."

"It's not like that." Calla started, but Douglas stopped her.

"Make the damn call." Calla groaned in frustration.

"For goodness sake! Why can't you just leave them alone? They want nothing to do with you, so just leave it. Build yourself another Marcus or something." Build another Marcus? Hadn't Calla mentioned a Marcus a while ago? Come to think of it, she had really hated that guy too. She didn't…no…

"Call them." Douglas repeated, thrusting the phone her way. Calla shook her head.

"No. You want to get one of them alone, so you can kidnap them." She snapped. He nodded.

"Well, obviously." He replied. Calla glared at him.

"I'm not going to send them into a trap." She stated defiantly.

"I tried asking nicely." Douglas muttered, before whipping out a gun. Before either of us could react, it was pressed to my forehead. "Make the call, or I blow his brains out. Your choice. And if you can't convince one of them to come, you both die."

Calla was quiet for a second, as if she was thinking about it. "Fine. Whatever. Just…just don't hurt him."

"I thought you might say that." He tapped in a number on the phone, then shoved it under her ear. She held the phone on her shoulder as she waited for someone to pick up.

** Calla's POV **

This was a bad dream. It had to be. I was still unconscious, and this was just some random, ice-cream induced dream. Douglas was supposed to be gone, defeated. Yet here he was, holding a gun to my brother's head. And he was going to kill Jaden unless I told Chase and his siblings to walk into a trap.

Okay, to be perfectly honest, maybe being mouthy to Douglas wasn't the best decision. But what else was I supposed to do? I wasn't going to let him push me around! But then he threatened to kill Jaden, and I had to think quickly. He obviously had a plan for whichever of the lab rats showed up. A plan that didn't work if they were all here. But if they all showed up, Douglas would kill us.

I had only one idea, one that Chase and I had gone over a hundred times. Hopefully, he would remember the code for it…

_ Pick up, pick up. _  I thought to myself as the phone rang. Who knew what Douglas would do if no one picked up? I knew that he had dialled the home phone number, which meant I had no idea who was going to pick up. Finally, someone picked up.

" _Hello? Who are you and why is your number blocked?"_  Chase asked. I took a deep breath.

"Chase, it's me." I said, trying to be cheerful.

" _Oh, hey Calla. New phone number or something?"_  He question.

"Not really. I'm sort of borrowing the phone. I might not be able to hang out tonight." I told him.

" _Why not?"_  Chase demanded.

"Oh, you know. Douglas." I replied.

"… _What about him?"_  I could hear the hardness in Chase's voice.

"He…Well, he sort of kidnapped me and Jaden." I blurted out. I heard Chase stiffen.

" _What? Calla, are you alright? He hasn't hurt you, has he?"_  Chase demanded.

"Not yet. But he says one of you guys have to pick Jaden and I up, or he'll…well, he's already got a gun pointed to Jay's head, so you get the picture. And I really do not feel like explaining to my parents why I'm suddenly an only child."

"… _I'm going to kill him."_  Chase muttered. I almost smiled. What a sweet, violent guy!  _"Calla, we're on our way."_

"Wait, Chase!" I exclaimed.

" _What?"_  Chase questioned.

"He said that only one of you can come and they must come alone." I told him. "ALONE."

I sat there, praying that Chase understood what I couldn't say out loud.

"… _Right. Alone."_  He agreed.  _"I'll be there as soon as I can."_

"We're at his old house. You know the way in?" I asked him.

" _Don't worry."_  He told me before hanging up. I looked up at Douglas, signalling that I was done.

"Chase is coming to pick us up." I muttered as he took back the phone, glaring furiously at him.

"Good." Douglas smirked, lowering the gun.

"Okay! That's it! Could someone explain what the hell is going on here?" Jaden demanded. Douglas looked at me.

"Do you want to, or should I?" He asked with a slight laugh. I sighed.

"It's a long story Jay. You're really better off not knowing." I told my brother.

"Calla Alexandria Parker, you tell me what is going on right now!" He ordered.

"Hey! Don't you use my middle name! Mom's the only one allowed to!" I argued.

"Well, I'm allowed to use it when you're keeping secrets. And the fact that you got us kidnapped might have pissed me off." Jaden snapped. I sighed.

"You're right. I'm sorry." I apologized. "You weren't supposed to be dragged into this."

"What is going on, CeeCee?" Jaden asked, less angry this time.

"CeeCee? Babe, I'm sorry, but that's a terrible nickname." I looked up to see Chase walking in.

** Jaden's POV **

Okay, so my day was getting a little weirder. What was my sister's boyfriend doing here? And what was he wearing? It wasn't a teletubies costume at least, but it was still a little unusual. I subconsciously compared him to Hawkeye from my favourite super hero movie.

"Get away from them Douglas." Chase growled at Douglas. He didn't move. The shorter boy glanced our way. "Calla, Jaden, are you two alright?" he questioned, glaring daggers at Douglas.

"Yep." "Totally confused." We replied. Well, actually, it didn't even surprise me that one of the Davenports, if not all, were involved with this. After all, they did keep more secrets than Calla.

"Let them go Douglas." Chase ordered. Douglas laughed.

"If you come with me." He replied. Chase thought about it, or at least, he pretended to.

"No thanks. I'm good." He put his hands close together, and suddenly, a purple, electric ball appeared in them. I stared at it. What the hell?

Chase shot the ball at Douglas, who dodged it. Douglas whipped out his gun and shot several bullets at Chase. Instead of dodging them, Chase opened his hands, and a larger version of the ball appeared around him. The bullets bounced off the electric ball/shield harmlessly.

Suddenly, Adam, Chase's older brother, burst into the room. He was wearing a uniform similar to Chase's. "You were supposed to come alone!" Douglas shouted.

"I did. He just followed me." Chase replied. Calla laughed.

"You remembered the code!" she exclaimed gleefully. I looked at her.

"Should I even ask?" I questioned. Calla shrugged.

"Tell you later." She promised. I nodded.

"You'd better." Meanwhile, there was still a fight going on. Douglas was shooting at them, but Chase was still deflecting it with his shield thingy. Adam ran over to us.

"Who first?" he questioned. Calla smiled.

"Me please." She requested. Adam nodded, and looked down at her tied hands. Suddenly, a red laser shot from his eyes onto the ropes. There was a burning smell, then the ropes fell to the ground. Calla stood up, rubbing her wrists. "Thank yo-hey!" Calla exclaimed as Adam pushed her to the ground. Bullets flew over their heads.

"Again, thanks. Okay, you take him down, I'll get Jaden." Calla ordered. Adam nodded and jumped to his feet, sending a laser ray at Douglas. Calla crawled towards me, not daring to get back up in case she got shot at again.

"Hey, sis?" I called. "Do you remember when I call your friends weird?"

"Yeah?" she replied as she started to untie my ropes.

"I was right." She chuckled softly, then swore.

"Double knotted? Seriously? Why would he do that? What an ass." she muttered. Just then, a blur sped into the room. When it stopped moving, I realized it was Bree. She was wearing a uniform like her brothers, but somehow it looked better on her. She sped forward, pushing Douglas into the wall.

"Whoa." I breathed in shock. Calla smirked.

"I know, right?" she asked. Douglas was losing badly, completely overwhelmed by their abilities. But he was still trying to fight. Bree sped at him, but he tripped her, then attacked Chase. Chase threw him off, but Bree was still on the ground. Douglas aimed the gun…

"Bree, move! Now!" I shouted out of pure instinct. She didn't reply, but rolled out of the way just as three bullets hit the ground where she had been. Then Adam shot a laser at Douglas. Douglas ducked, but the laser hit a propane tank behind him. There was a loud boom, and then everything exploded. Calla and I were pretty far from the tank, but we were still thrown a few feet away, into the wall. Calla had to roll out of the way as I hit the wall, breaking the chair I was tied too. Adam, Bree, Chase and Douglas on the over hand, were completely engulfed by the flames.

"GUYS!" Calla screamed. When the dust and flying debris cleared away, she let out a sigh of relief. Adam, Bree and Chase were still standing protected by Chase's shield. Douglas was gone.

They all stood still for a while, then Calla ran towards them. She threw her arms around Chase, kissing him. I cleared my throat, and they pushed away, blushing.

I stood up on shaky legs, staring at the three…people in shock. How could they have done any of that? It-It just wasn't possible. "Jaden, I know what this looks like, but-"

I didn't let Calla finish, instead running for the door as fast as my legs could carry me. But I only made it to the yard before I felt someone tackle me from behind. And as they were going as fast as a car, we went flying into the bushes. I glared up at Bree as she held me down.

"Dude, let me up." I ordered. "I'm not going to fight you."

"Why not?" she questioned. I stared at her.

"You're a girl." I replied. Bree glanced behind her.

"Calla, you're brother is a sexist!" she complained. "Either that, or a gentleman."

"I prefer gentleman." I replied. "Now seriously Bree, let me up."

She didn't budge. "Bree?" Calla called. Bree sighed and got off me, offering me a hand up. I slapped it away, got to my feet and looked at my sister.

"Calla, we're going home. Now. Then we're calling the cops." I told her. She shook her head.

"No." She replied. I stared at her.

"Did you miss the part where we were kidnapped?" I demanded. She sighed. "Not to mention this freak show!" I shouted, gesturing at her friends.

"Jaden, you can't tell anyone about that!" she exclaimed. I crossed my arms.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't." I demanded. Calla looked helplessly at me, tears forming in her eyes. It suddenly occurred to me that her act before with Douglas could have been exactly that. An act. A brave front to hide how scared she'd been. She would never admit that she was scared of course, but she always had her tell-tale signs.

"If you tell anyone," Bree addressed me. "We could be taken away from our family. Please Jaden. You have to keep this a secret."

I opened my mouth to object, but decided better of it. "Explain. Now." I ordered. Chase nodded.

"Alright. You're delusional." He told me. Calla elbowed him in the ribs.

"Dude, I think the bionic cat is out of the bag." She told him. Adam looked at her, wide eyed.

"You made a bionic cat?" he questioned. "Where? I want one!"

Calla giggled, some of the tension in her shoulders disappearing. "It's just an expression Adam. There's no cat."

"Aww…" he trailed off sadly. I looked at them.

"Seriously. What are you?" I demanded.

"We're bionic super humans." Chase explained.

"So you're robots?" I guessed. "Like Autobots or something?"

Calla groaned. "They're not robots!" Bree however, laughed.

"What is with you two and transformer?" she asked. Calla raised an eyebrow at her. "Oh come on! Not three weeks ago did you come to us claiming that Marcus' vacuum was a Decipticon."

"A, it totally was. And B, can we focus here?" she glanced at me, and smiled guiltily. I sent her an angry glare in response.

"No, we're humans. We just have bionic abilities given to us through chips in our necks." Chase explained.

"Yeah, I've got super strength and laser vision." Adam added. "Bree's got super speed, and Chase…uh, Chase…"

"Is really smart and can use the force." Calla finished for him. I nodded, still looking at them warily.

"So, what are you though? Some sort of government experiment?" I assumed. They all shook their heads.

"The government doesn't know about us. And they can't know about us either." They all looked terrified at the thought of being discovered.

"Why not?" I asked, frowning.

"They'd do experiments and other things to us." Bree explained with a shudder. "Not to mention, Mr. Davenport would get arrested, although he wasn't the one to do this to us."

I nodded. "Alright, speaking of Mr. Davenport, who the hell was that guy?" I gestured at the house.

"Douglas. He's technically our birth father, and Mr. Davenport's brother." Chase explained. "But he wanted to turn us into weapons." I nodded. It made sense. "Mr. Davenport saved us and raised us to be heroes."

"Heroes." I repeated, smirking. "Like Nightwing, Hulk, and Black Widow?" Those were the superheroes that they most reminded me of. They all smirked, relaxing a little. But I could see they were still uncomfortable. Calla must have noticed it too.

"Hey, can we go over to your place?" She asked Chase, hugging herself slightly. "This place is creepy, and after Douglas kidnapped us, I'd like to grab a weapon or two from Mr. Davenport's weapon's vault." I stared at her.

"Whoa, wait a minute. Your boss has a weapon's vault?" I asked. She nodded. "Okay, yeah. Me too. I totally want a high tech weapon."

They all looked at me. "What? If anymore of your messed up relatives come after me or Calla, we'll need something to defend ourselves with. I don't feel right about using you all as personal body guards."

"Y-You won't tell?" Bree asked, a little surprised. I shrugged.

"Nah. Calla would hate me. Besides, it would be a poor way to thank you for saving our lives." Bree beamed happily. Man, she had a pretty smile. I looked at my sister as we began walking to the Davenport's house.

"Alright, so you're obviously a part of this. You're not…" I trailed off. Calla laughed, understanding.

"No, I'm not bionic. I prefer being behind a laptop, not on the front lines." Says the girl who once drop-kicked Trent for trying to flirt with her. "I'm only a part of this because I'm Davenport's personal assistant. I get paid to watch them save the world."

"Well, and help us." Chase reminded her, grabbing her hand. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"So, that's why you skip school?" I guessed. Calla rolled her eyes.

"I only miss a class here and there, but yeah. If there's a big mission that they need me to help with, I ditch and help them out from the lab."

"The lab." I repeated.

"Longer story. We hang out there, and work there, and train there most of the time." Bree explained. I nodded.

"Cool." I grinned at her as we reached the Davenport's front door. I check my phone. Almost eleven. I had the feeling that even bionic superheroes had curfews.

Mr. Davenport and Leo sat in the living room. Mrs. Davenport/Dooley (I never knew what to call her) was in the kitchen.

"Where have you three…" Mr. Davenport trailed off, mid yell. I could guess that we looked pretty bad; we were all covered head to toe in dust, dirt, and ash from the explosion. "Would you care to explain?"

"Jay and I got kidnapped, these dudes saved our assed, things blew up, and Jaden knows about their bionics. You know, the average Monday night." Calla replied.

"Whoa, what? You were kidnapped?" Mr. Davenport demanded. Then something dawned on him. "You told Jaden?!"

"We had to!" "Douglas was threatening to kill them!" "Calla has a bionic cat!" The bionic kids replied.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa…Douglas?" Mr. Davenport looked at Calla for explanation. Leo however, seemed to only care about what Adam said.

"You have a bionic cat?" he demanded. "Seriously? You're making animals bionic now? Not fair!"

"Leo, there's no cat." Calla assured him. "And yes, Douglas grabbed us as bait for these dudes, but they kicked his ass. Bullets were shot, things exploded, he got away, and Jaden saw everything."

Leo's mom ran over. "Bullets? Explosions? Are you five alright?" she demanded.

"We're fine." I assured her. She frowned, looking us over for injuries despite what I said. Mr. Davenport looked at me.

"Did they explain the part where you can't tell anyone?" he questioned. I nodded.

"I won't tell anyone." I promised. "Seriously, I owe these guys big time."

"Alright." Mr. Davenport nodded. "Thank you."

"No prob." I replied. Leo's mom looked at me and Calla.

"Where are your parents? They must be worried sick." She murmured. I shook my head.

"They're away on a business trip and won't be back until sometime on tomorrow afternoon. They don't even know what happened."

"And we're not going to tell them." Calla added. I nodded my agreement. Mr. Davenport sighed.

"Alright then. I'll drive you two home then." Leo's mom glared at him.

"Donald!" she scolded.

"What?" he was confused.

"The poor kids were abducted! What if Douglas goes back for them?" Calla stiffened beside me, but relaxed as Chase put his arm around her. "We've got a few guest rooms. You two can stay here for the night."

"Thanks Mrs…" I trailed off. "Sorry, but is it Dooley or Davenport?"

"Call me Tasha." She told me. I smiled.

"Alright, thank you Tasha." I grinned. Bree squealed.

"Sleep over!" She exclaimed. Mr. Davenport shook his head.

"It's a school night. Capsules, now." He ordered. They sighed. I was about to ask what he meant by capsules, but Calla gave me a look that told me to shut my mouth.

"Fine." "Alright." "I really wanted a bionic cat." They replied.

"Good night beautiful." Chase told Calla, kissing her lightly before following his siblings to what looked like an elevator. Leo led us to the guest rooms.

"So, Leo, you're not bionic, right?" I guessed.

"No." He muttered. Calla laughed.

"Please Jay, it's Leo. Did you really think he was bionic?" Leo looked at her, offended.

"You can find your room on your own!" he exclaimed, storming off. Calla and I laughed. Then awkward silence.

"So…what do you think?" she asked, talking about the bionics. I shrugged.

"I still don't like you dating Chase." I muttered to Calla.

"I know." She replied. "Get over it."

"What are capsules?" I questioned.

"They sleep in these special tubes." She replied, yawning. I smirked.

"Are you sure they aren't robots?" I asked, earning a glare.

"JADEN!" She groaned.


	10. Avalanche

** Chase's POV **

Another day, another mission. This time, we saved a tropical island from a massive storm. Not really a big deal, compared to some of our missions, but it was still cool to visit exotic places.

I wasn't the only one in high spirits though. Bree had run into a local boy that she thought was good looking, but didn't seem to mind it too much when Adam and I dragged her away. And Adam had gotten some souvenirs for himself, so he was in a great mood.

"Mission accomplished!" Bree announced as we walked into the lab. Mr. Davenport was on the rock wall climb and Calla was at the counter, working on some project.

"Great job guys." She congratulated us.

"Guess what?" Adam exclaimed, holding up his mission bag. "I brought back a whole bag of hairy fruits!"

He emptied the bag of coconuts onto the counter next to Calla. Both she and Mr. Davenport looked at us for an explanation.

"Just be happy I made him put the pelican back." Bree commented. Calla laughed.

"Guys, that was the finest use of bionics to date." Mr. Davenport said with a smile. "I think we can all agree that strength plus speed equals success."

Adam and Bree high fived, while I stared at him. Did he seriously just say that? "Um, uh, uh excuse me? Let's not forget the mastermind behind this entire thing."

"Oh, right." Adam said, a little surprised that he forgot. "Let's give it up for our fearless leader. Mr. Davenport!" Adam and Bree high fived Mr. Davenport. I stared at them, offended. How could they seriously forget me like that?

"What? No! I was talking about me! I supervised the whole mission." I objected. Adam gave me a look.

"Yeah, but I think we all know who did all the heavy lifting." He told me. I glared at him. "I'll give you a hint. It starts with an A and ends with an M. There's a big 'da' in the middle." I continued to glare at him. "Okay guys, it's me."

"Yes, we know that Adam." Calla told him. "And you did great Chase. Right guys?" Silence. "Guys?" Nothing.

"Please, the real work happens up here." I told them, tapping my forehead. Bree sighed.

"Chase, no offence," she stared "but your bionic brain in no match for our hustle…"

"…and muscle." Adam added. Mr. Davenport grinned.

"Oh! That is a great team name! Hustle, muscle, and…chustle." He finished awkwardly. Calla looked at him.

"I am not calling them that." She said. He nodded.

"Don't worry Chase, we'll find you an 'ustle'." He promised me. I didn't want an 'ustle' though. I just wanted some recognition for once!

"I am so tired of these two getting all the attention because they have super speed and super strength. I never get any of the credit!" I exclaimed. Calla looked at me.

"That isn't true Chase." She told me. Mr. Davenport nodded.

"She's right. They just have a lot of flash, but you're the glue that holds the flash together. You're…flash glue." Calla hit her head against the table, muttering about how incredibly dim-witted Mr. Davenport could be.

"I'm flash-glue?" I repeated. Seriously? Was that all I was to them?

"Hey! I think I figured it out!" Adam exclaimed suddenly. He slammed a coconut against his forehead and it cracked open, breaking in two. He grinned at me, then gestured at his head. "You're right Chase; the real work does happen up here!" he exclaimed, taking a drink of the coconut milk. Calla coughed loudly, drawing attention to herself.

"Alright guys. You lot go get undressed and Adam, take a shower. You smell terrible. I want some Chase time." She told them. They all rolled their eyes at her demand, but did as she asked. She looked at me. "You know they don't think of you as some flash-glue, right?"

I crossed my arms. "They act like that's all they thing I am." I muttered. Calla rolled her eyes, and walked into my arms. She wrapped hers around my neck.

"Well, think of it this way. Flash-glue holds flash together, therefore, you hold the team together." She said brightly. I smiled a little. "I think that was what Mr. Davenport was trying to say, but it didn't come out right."

"You're sweet." I told her. She smiled and kissed me.

"I know." She replied. We both laughed and she started pulling me upstairs. "Now come on, flash-glue. Your mom invited me over for dinner."

"Alright." I agreed. At least Calla was on my side. I looked at her laptop, which was now shutting down.

"So, what are you working on?" I asked casually. She smiled and shook her head.

"I told you; it's a surprise. I don't want anyone to know about it until it's at least halfway done." I scowled. She'd been working on that secret project for a few weeks now, and I had no clue what it was. It was driving me nuts!

** Calla's POV **

"Okay guys, say hello to my latest invention, The Chryoblaster. This thing can freeze anything in a nano second." Mr. Davenport announced with a giddy smile on his face. I grinned, but apparently, I was the only other person actually interested in the machine.

"Bravo, Big D." Leo said, clapping. "You invented ice."

Mr. Davenport glared at him. "No! I invented a way for astronauts to travel to distant galaxies while frozen in suspended animation."

"Which is a fancy way of saying ice." Leo told him. I smirked.

"No. Leo, it's a fancy way of saying  _space_  ice." I joked. He laughed. Mr. Davenport wasn't amused.

"Alright, here. Let me demonstrate." He offered, taking Adam's hot chocolate from him. He placed it on the table. "You guys might want to step back because the ray from the Chryoblaster freezes everything it touches."

We all did as we were told, giving him the space to fire the weapon. He pressed the trigger and a light blue pulsed from the device. It hit the cup, freezing it solid in a block of ice. We all stared at it. Leo looked at us.

"Can someone please tell this dude he's making ice." He asked us. We all rolled our eyes.

"Every space program in the world is going to want one of these. I just need the element to fuel them." Mr. Davenport continued. "Citanium."

"Batteries would have been easier to get, but it didn't sound as cool." I added with a smirk. Mr. Davenport looked at me.

"Don't you have a job to do?" he asked. I sighed.

"Fine." I said, pulling up the cyberdesk's screen. "Citanium. Very rare, very powerful. Can only be found here." She pulled up a map of Antarctica.

"I'm sending you on a mission to the most remote part of Antarctica." Mr. Davenport told the others. Bree looked at him.

"As opposed to bustling downtown Antarctica?" she asked. We all ignored her. Chase grinned.

"No worries, Mr. Davenport." He said enthusiastically. "We've been to way worse places that Antarctica."

"Yeah, remember Bakersfield?" Adam asked. We all grimaced, not wanting to relive that memory.

"Look, with your bionics," Mr. Davenport continued. I frowned, getting a warning alert on my phone "you should be able to swoop in-"

"Mr. Davenport?" I interrupted. "We've got a problem." I pulled up the weather alert on the cyber desk. "There's a massive storm heading into the same location as the Citanium."

"So, who cares? We just go with the storm." Chase frowned at me as Mr. Davenport observed the data. I shook my head.

"In a category five? I don't think so." I shook my head at him. Mr. Davenport nodded.

"Calla's right; it's too dangerous. I can't believe this. I'm going to have to call off the mission." He sighed. Adam and Bree shrugged as if it was no big deal, but Chase looked really upset.

"What? No. There's plenty of time before the center of the storm hits." He objected.

"It's just not worth the risk." Mr. Davenport replied. "I just hope the storm doesn't collapse the glacier."

"But if that happens, you'll lose the Citanium forever." Chase reminded him. Mr. Davenport nodded.

"I know." He sounded devastated, but it was obvious what he cared about more.

"But we can do this." Chase tried one last time, but Mr. Davenport had already left the room.

"Stand down, flash-glue!" Bree exclaimed. "You heard the man. No one is going, not even hustle and muscle."

"Yeah, and muscle could use some help." Adam mumbled. I shook my head at him; the idiot must have tried to take a drink from his hot chocolate, because his tongue was stuck to the ice block. He winced as he tried to pull it off gently. Bree sighed, and ripped the ice block away from his mouth.

"Ow! That hurt. Great, now I need some ice." He picked up the ice block and stuck it back to his tongue. "Ah, that is so much better."

We all started to go upstairs, but Chase stayed behind. I frowned at him. "Something wrong?" I asked. He shook his head.

"Nah. I just wanted to work on something to show Mr. Davenport later." I could tell by his tone that he wanted to be alone. I smiled.

"Okay." I replied, heading towards the elevator. I turned to Leo. "So, what's this about Janelle coming over?" I asked. "I thought you two broke up."

"I'm working my way back up." Leo replied, grinned. "She's coming over for a 'study date'."

Bree and I smirked. "Nice one." Bree congratulated. "So, that makes two of us in relationships. How come I'm last?"

"You're not last one. What about Adam?" Leo asked, as we reached the top floor. Adam walked away, still holding the ice block to his tongue.

"Do you really think he's ready for a girlfriend?" Bree countered. Leo and I thought it over.

"True." "You have a point." We replied. Bree sighed, and crossed her arms.

"I don't get it. You and Chase are supposed to be the ones without girlfriends." She muttered. "You're…well, you know."

I rolled my eyes. "Come on Bree, they're just not that picky. And some girls, like Janelle and I, like a guy with brains. And what are you complaining about? What happened to that art guy? What's his name again? Owen?"

"We broke up." Bree replied. I frowned.

"Why?" I demanded. Why didn't she tell me?

"You know. Things happened." She replied. "He wanted to see other girls."

"Oh, poor Bree." I gave her a hug. "Well, it's his own fault."

"Yeah, besides. His obsessive art was kind of creepy." Leo added. I grinned.

"He has a point. Remember Popcorn Perry?" we all shuddered. What a weird day.

"Okay, you have a point." Bree laughed. I grinned.

"Alright, time to find you a guy. Come on." I grabbed Bree by the wrist and pulled her out the door. "To the mall!"

** Xxx **

Okay, so finding Bree a guy was harder than I thought. She gave up after an hour, then went home. I stayed for a while, getting a few things from my favourite computer shop. I grabbed a ride with my brother on the way back.

"Seriously?" I exclaimed, putting my phone back in my pocket.

"Your boyfriend still not answering?" Jaden asked, glancing at me. I sighed.

"No. I wanted to see if he wanted to catch that new sci-fi movie tonight. We've both read the book, and the movie is supposed to be amazing." I replied. "Oh well, he's probably busy working on a project or something."

"Yeah, probably." Jaden agreed. "Maybe they got a mission while you were out?"

"Nah. We all get the mission alerts at the same time. I would know about it." I replied.

"True." I could tell that Jaden was still buzzing with questions. After he met Douglas and was introduced to the bionic secret two weeks ago, he'd been told about the bionics and I was the one stuck answering all his questions. I'm not even joking when I say that on three different occasions, he insisted they must be robots. Evidently, I was the only one with my mom's brains.

"So, what's the movie about?" Jaden asked.

"Well-" I was cut off when Jaden's phone suddenly rang.

"Can you get that?" he asked, turning down the Davenport's driveway. "I'm sort of busy here."

"Okay." I grabbed his phone. I smirked. Kaitlin, my brother's ex girlfriend. "It's Kaitlin. May I?"

"Do you have to?" Jaden asked. I laughed.

"You know I do." I replied. "Hello Kaitlin."

" _Calla? Why do you have Jaden's phone?"_  she demanded. I smiled.

"He gave it to me so you wouldn't bother him on his date." Jaden looked at me.

" _Date? With who?"_  she questioned. I laughed.

"Wouldn't you like to know? Either way, I'm in charge of reminding you that it's over. He broke up with you. Move on." I hung up the phone and gave it back to Jaden. He shook his head at me as he stopped at the Davenport's door.

"Do you have to be so cruel to my ex-girlfriends?" he asked. I got out of the car.

"Because it's fun. Anyway, see you later!" I replied cheerfully.

"Don't get yourself kidnapped!" Jaden joked in response, referring to the Douglas incident. I laughed.

"No promises!" I called back. He drove away laughing. I smirked and walked inside.

"Hey Leo. Hey frozen Janelle." I greeted, walking to the kitchen. Then I stopped. Was that…I turned around and stared at the massive ice block surrounding Janelle. Leo was trying to melt it with a couple of hair dryers. "Should I even ask?"

"No! You never saw a thing!" Leo replied, still desperately trying to melt the ice block. I shrugged.

"Alright." I replied, heading downstairs. "Hey, Chase?"

The lab was empty except for Mr. Davenport. He looked up from his computer as I entered. "You know your shift doesn't start for another hour, right?" he asked, jokingly. I was here all the time, whether or not I was working.

"Yeah, I know." I walked into the back room, assuming that Chase was back there, sorting through his mission gear. Instead, I found Adam and Bree.

"You guys seen Chase?" I asked. They shook their heads.

"We came back here because we wanted to test out some of the new gadgets Mr. Davenport gave us." Bree replied. "But most of them are gone, along with Chase's mission suit."

I started to get a bad feeling about it. Chase wouldn't be that stupid, right? I ran back into the main lab, Adam and Bree following. "Mr. Davenport! Chase's missing."

He looked up from his work. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"He's not answering his phone, and his mission suit and gear are missing." I informed him, pulling out one of our earpieces and activating the communication system.

"What?" Mr. Davenport demanded. Adam nodded, a worried look on his face.

"Yeah. I'm afraid he's been carried away by a small predatory bird." He exclaimed. Mr. Davenport looked at me.

"Get him on the comm set now." He ordered.

"Already on it." I replied, holding up the box of ear pieces. Finally, I heard the successful beep that meant that the system had located him. "Chase? Where are you?"

"" _I'm at the Citanium site!"_  he shouted over the blasting wind in the background. Apparently, he WAS that stupid.

"What? I told you it was too dangerous! What are you doing?" Mr. Davenport demanded as he pulled up the cyber desk's holographic image of the Citanium site.

" _I'm proving that even without super strength and super speed I can still get the job done!"_ He replied _._ Suddenly, a large, loud, red warning popped up on the screen. I really hated large, loud, red warnings. They never meant anything good.

"Chase, you're about to be trapped by a major storm. Get out of there now." I ordered.

" _It's okay. I'm almost done. I just have to get the last of the samples."_ Chase argued.

"No, abort and seek shelter! That storm…" Mr. Davenport trailed off as a loud rumbling entered our ears. "What's that noise?"

" _AHHH!"_  Chase yelled as the rumbling got louder. Then the connection was cut off completely.

"Chase? Chase!" I exclaimed, trying to get the connection back. I stared at the holo screen, not believing what I was seeing.

"T-There was a massive avalanche at Chase's coordinates." Bree sounded worried, shocked. I don't think any of us expected that to happen. Mr. Davenport was the first to recover.

"He may still be alive." He said. I flinched at the word 'may' because there was a chance that he wasn't. "We don't have much time."

"Mission suits!" I ordered, snapping out of my shock. I didn't really need to tell them though; Adam and Bree were already running to get dressed. I ran over to consol.

"Calla, try to re-establish connection. Get me a GPS signal. Now." Mr. Davenport ordered. I didn't need to be told twice as my fingers flew across the keyboard.

"Got it!" I shouted after a moment. I connected my comm set to Adam and Bree's and relayed the coordinates to them. I tried connecting to Chase's comm set. Surprisingly, I got a signal. But he wasn't answering. I tried not to think about what that could mean.

** Chase's POV **

I tapped the ground impatiently. I couldn't believe it. Trapped under a mountain of snow, slowly freezing to death and hardly any air in the small hole I was in. And all I could think of was how bored I was. It was sort of pathetic.

After a few more minutes of the endless boredom, I decided to do anther video log. I'd already done two.

"Chase's mission log. Hour three. This could be my last recorded words. I'm still stuck under a mountain of snow, the air is getting thinner. I am cold, I am hungry, and these snow pants are giving me an extreme wedgie!" I complained, fidgeting slightly in hopes of fixing the problem. To be perfectly honest, if those were seriously my last words, I would never forgive myself. But I knew Adam and Bree were coming for me. They wouldn't leave me out here to die.

Suddenly, there was a sound above me. Bits of snow began to fall, but not much. I grinned. Thank god! "Yes! Adam! Bree! I knew you would come for me! I'm in here!" I shouted. As I did, light started to stream in from a hole being dug my way. I turned onto my back to greet them.

My grin slowly fell from my face as I realized who my rescuer was. "What are you doing here?" I demanded.

Douglas smiled down at me. "Saving my son's life." He replied. He pushed more of the snow out of the way, enough for me to climb out, and offered me his hand. I hesitated.

This was stupid. This is the guy who tried to kidnap me not that long ago. He kidnapped Calla and threatened to kill her not that long ago. He was evil. He was a psychopath. But I was ice cold, and I would die if I stayed here and longer. Sighing, I accept his hand and climbed out. He nodded to a small tent just a little ways away. "I've got a fire going and a sleeping bag or two." He told me. I nodded and followed him towards the tent.

Once inside, I all but collapsed onto one of the sleeping bags spread out on the ground. While outside the tent was ice cold, it was basically smouldering inside. And as my body slowly warmed up, I could feel my eye lids drooping. And it suddenly hit me just how exhausted I was.

I knew I should stay awake, that Douglas wasn't to be trusted, that I was in danger as long as he was around. But still, it was so warm, and I was only going to close my eyes for a second…

** Calla's POV **

Four hours. That's how long Adam and Bree had been gone. A half hour to the site, and three and a half hours searching. "Any sign of him?" I asked for what was probably the hundredth time. Honestly, I was surprised they hadn't told me to shut up yet.

" _Nothing."_  Bree sounded as devastated as I felt.

" _I can't find the heat signature anywhere!"_  Adam shouted. In the back part of my mind, I knew that it could mean he was gone. As in  _gone_. But I was in no mood to listen to that part of my mind.

" _Well, how could he not be here? This was Chase's exact location!"_  Bree argued.

" _There's only one explanation. He met a family of Eskimos who took him in as a pet because he is the exact same size as a penguin."_  Adam exclaimed. I rolled my eyes.

"Adam! This is not the time for jokes!" I snapped at him. "And guys, if he's not there, move South."

" _On it."_  Bree and Adam replied. Mr. Davenport sighed next to me.

"No. Guys, that's it." He said, pain in his voice. I stared at him. We couldn't give up like this! "There could be another avalanche any minute. I-I'm calling off the rescue."

" _What?" "No way! I'm not leaving without my brother."_  "Are you just going to let him die?" Adam, Bree, and I all exclaimed at once. Mr. Davenport looked at me sadly. I ignored him.

"Guys, don't stop looking. Chase is still alive, but he won't be if we give up." I told Adam and Bree.

" _Hey!"_ Bree exclaimed suddenly.  _"That's Chase's comm set! He was here! We have to keep looking."_

I smiled. "Great find Bree." I said happily, glaring angrily at Mr. Davenport. How dare he consider giving up?! Mr. Davenport shook his head.

"Calla, if there's another avalanche, I can't lose all of them." He told me, then spoke into the comm set. "Guys, I'm serious. Get out of there."

Suddenly, we heard a distant rumbling sound, just like before.  _"Hey! There's that sound again!"_

"Oh. Shit." I muttered, eyes wide.

" _Avalanche! Move!"_  Bree shouted. The rumbling continued for a few minutes, then nothing.

"Guys?" Mr. Davenport demanded. "Adam, Bree, respond."

" _We're okay."_  Bree assured him. Mr. Davenport sighed.

"Guys, come home. Now." He ordered.

" _Alright." "We'll come back, won't we?"_  Bree and Adam replied. I nodded, although they couldn't see.

"Yeah. Adam, we won't give up." I assured the older boy. I looked at Mr. Davenport. "We won't give up." I repeated. He nodded.

"Of course not." He promised.

** Chase's POV **

I groaned, opening my eyes. I must have fallen asleep in the sleeping bag. I glanced up to see Douglas pouring himself a cup of soup from a blue pot. "How long have I been asleep?" I demanded, sitting up. He shrugged.

"About an hour." He replied. "Would you like some soup?"

He handed me a cup of the soup. "I went to cooking school in the nineties." He informed me. "It's Tuscan bean."

I glanced at the cup, not accepting it. "Is it poison?" It probably was. He looked at me.

"Yes. I flew ten thousand miles around the world in a massive storm and risked my life in an avalanche to rescue you, so I could then poison you." He replied sarcastically. I sighed and grabbed the cup. I took a sip, and to my genuine surprise, it didn't taste like sewer water.

"You make a pretty good soup for a diabolical maniac." I admitted. Douglas smirked.

"You should try my quiche." He suggested. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, maybe some other time." I replied, standing up. There was no way I was going to stay here with him any longer. "I'm leaving."

Douglas shrugged. "Suit yourself." He replied as I pulled on my jacket. "But you'll freeze to death before anyone else gets here."

"I can survive in this suit!" I snapped. "Mr. Davenport made it. It's built to withstand temperatures down to 45 below."

"It's 50 below." Douglas informed me. I stopped.

"That explains the frostbite." I sighed. Apparently, I wasn't going anywhere. "I'm not worried. They'll come for me."

"They already have." Douglas replied nonchalantly. I stared at him.

"What?" I demanded. He looked up from his IPad.

"Oh, the weather must have been too much for them. It looks like Adam and Bree are going home without you." He stood up and showed me the screen. It had three dots on it. The red one, labelled 'Chase' was approximately where we were. There were two other dots, a green and a pink one, both labelled 'Adam' and 'Bree'. They were slowly moving away from us. "Those are their GPS signals. That's how I found you."

I glared at him. "You've been stalking us?" I demanded.

"You call it stalking, I call it lovingly lurking in the shadows." He replied. I stared at him.

"You're a creepy dude." I muttered as I began pacing. Despite Douglas' creepiness, he was right about one thing. Adam and Bree left without me. They had to be coming back, right? They weren't just going to leave me here with Douglas, right? I mean seriously, I would never have abandoned them like that and I knew they wouldn't abandon me.

"So," I looked at Douglas. "What's your agenda for the day? Build some bombs, take over a tiny country, steal money from old ladies?"

Douglas laughed. "No! Well, not in that order." I rolled my eyes and sat down. "Oh come on, I'm not that bad of a guy." Douglas exclaimed. I looked at him.

"You trapped us in a dungeon and then tried to turn us into your bionic soldiers! You threatened to kill Calla and Jaden!" I reminded him.

"Okay, okay. So I might have overreacted with that whole abduction thing." He admitted. "But I was never going to hurt anybody. The gun wasn't even loaded. I just wanted to get back at Donald."

"When are the two of you just going to grow up?" I demanded. Or at least, when are they going to stop dragging us into their problems?

"I'll grow up when he grows up!" Douglas snapped. Then he sighed. "Look, Chase. You and I have a lot more in common than you think. I know what it's like to be unappreciated, to have a sibling who always steals the spotlight. I know how hard it's been for you."

I looked up at him. Where was he going with this? "And I can help." He offered.

"For the last time, I don't need your help." I couldn't trust this guy, let alone let him help me. He'd more likely stab me in the back.

"What if I told you that you could be stronger than Adam and faster than Bree?" Douglas questioned. "I can make it so you have all three abilities. Speed, strength, and intelligence."

I could actually see it in my mind. If I had those abilities, I wouldn't have to prove myself to Adam and Bree anymore. There would be no doubt that I could handle any mission thrown my way. "How?" I asked suspiciously. Douglas smiled.

"You were the third one. By time I got to you, I knew how to build in capacity for upgrades." He replied. "But my brother took you away before I could finish."

He sat down next to me. "Join me Chase." He offered. "I can help you be all that you were meant to be." He picked up a plate. "Devilled egg?"

I sighed. Douglas could make me strong. He could make me fast. I would be the ultimate bionic hero. But Adam, Bree, Mr. Davenport, Leo and Calla…

"If I went with you, I would be abandoning my family and friends." I objected.

""The same family that mocks you and never gives you the credit that you deserve? For anything? And the same friend that's willing to let you die up here just because it got a little cold?" Douglas questioned. I nodded, making my decision.

"What would I have to do?" I questioned, standing up. Douglas grinned.

"I just need to upgrade your bionic chip." He replied. He gestured at the tiny tent. "As you can see, I no longer have access to state of the art systems. So, we'll have to use Donald's cyber desk."

"Yeah." I replied, nodding. "I guess I can sneak you into the lab. Mr. Davenport won't be there. It's Wednesday, which means something's getting waxed."

"He is hairy." Douglas agreed. I nodded. He was definitely right about that. "He gets that from our mom."

Douglas thought about it for a second. "What about that pesky little lab assistant? Cara or something?" He asked.

" _Calla_ ," I corrected. "And she takes off around four-thirty for dinner at her place, and comes back by seven. We should have time."

"Good. This is good. We'll be in and out before anyone knows we're there. What do you say?" he offered me his hand. I shook it.

"Alright, Mr. Davenport." Douglas and I both grinned. "I'm in."

"Super." Douglas was pleased. "If you want, you can call me dad."

"No, I'm good." I replied, ignoring the awkwardness.

** Xxx **

As it turned out, I was right about Calla and Mr. Davenport. The lab was empty, no one to be seen. I was actually happy about that. I didn't want Douglas to find Calla alone in here.

"Ow!" Douglas exclaimed. I turned to see him standing by one of Mr. Davenport's electricity generators.

"The download is almost complete." I told him. Douglas grinned.

"Good. A few more minutes and I can give you everything that Adam and Bree have, plus the capacity for more." I chuckled; that would be amazing.

Suddenly, the back entrance to the lab opened up and we could hear people coming in. Douglas ducked behind one of Mr. Davenport's machines. Mr. Davenport, Adam, Bree, and Calla walked in. Mr. Davenport was talking.

"Don't worry. There's still a chance we can find-" "CHASE!" Calla exclaimed, her face flushing with relief. They all turned and saw me standing there. Calla looked like she was about to run over and hug me, but I stopped her with a slight shake of my head. She didn't have time to ask why though, because Douglas stepped out behind me.

Adam gasped. "It's evil Uncle Daddy!" He exclaimed, pointing. Douglas grinned.

"Back away from him Chase." Mr. Davenport ordered.

"Too late Donald." Douglas laughed, putting his arm around me. "He's with me now."

"What?" Mr. Davenport questioned. Bree looked at me.

"Chase, what's going on?" she demanded. Douglas' smile grew.

"It's true. I've finally taken back what was stolen from me." Everyone was staring at me now, betrayal and hurt written all over their faces. None of them, not even Calla, had any idea what I was thinking.

"Chase?" Calla asked softly. "What's he talking about? Why would he think that?"

Suddenly, Leo ran down into the lab. "Alright Big D. I know I'm not supposed to touch your stuff, but you know how sometimes things happen and sometimes things happen when you really don't want them to happen and that just happens to be what just happened. Upstairs."

Calla gave Leo a pointed look, jerking her thumb towards Douglas and I. Frowning, Leo followed her gaze, then jumped back with a scream when he saw Douglas.

"Whatever you're up to Douglas, you're not going to get away with it." Mr. Davenport told him. A beep came from the cyber desk.

"I just did." Douglas replied. "The download's finished. I now have the power to give Chase all three bionic abilities! And now you can't stop us!"

Adam, Bree, Calla, and Mr. Davenport stared at us wide eyed. I sighed. "Actually, they can." I told Douglas. "That USB you're holding is completely useless."

Douglas frowned. "Well, then what just took an hour and a half to download?" he demanded. I grinned.

"A list of everything Adam's ever eaten." I replied. Adam looked at me, horrified.

"Not my Incredible Edibles!" He exclaimed, heart broken. Douglas glared at me.

"You double crossed me." He accused. I glared back at him.

"Do you really think I would betray my own family? That I would choose you over the people that care about me?" I demanded. Douglas shrugged.

"Well, it's always worked for me." He replied.

"Even if you could offer me every ability there is, I would never go to your side. We're a team. And teams never quit on each other." I could see the smiles on everyone's faces. Douglas sighed and threw up his hands.

"Alright! You got me!" Douglas chuckled. "What do you say we just put all this behind us and get down to the business of healing this family?"

We all gave him sceptical looks, except for Adam, who had believed every word. "Am I right?" Douglas grinned. "Let's hug it out people!"

Adam ran forward, his arms spread wide, but Mr. Davenport called him back. Douglas sighed. "Well, you know what they say. If you can't join them…"

He pulled out a gun and pointed it at Adam, Bree, Calla, and Mr. Davenport. "Get down!" I shouted, grabbing the Chryoblaster from Leo. They all dropped to the ground at the same time as I pointed the Chryoblaster at Douglas and pressed my trigger before he could press his. In seconds, he was frozen solid in a block of ice.

They slowly got off the ground, staring at Douglas. "Wow! You froze him!" Leo exclaimed. "Now, how exactly would someone go about unfreezing someone?" He asked, holding up the device. "Because it is not the button located here, here, here, here, here, here, or here."

We all ignored him. "Mr. Davenport I'm really sorry. I know I should have warned you about Douglas. I just knew that if I could get him back here, then we could trap him for good."

"Good work, Chase. You make a great double agent." Mr. Davenport told me. I smiled.

"Thank you." Then I remembered something. I pulled a small bag out of my pocket. "Oh, and I almost forgot. Here's you Citanium."

Mr. Davenport grinned. "Money, money, money, money, money." He started dancing. Calla cleared her throat.

"Yo, Mr. Krabs!" She called. Mr. Davenport glared at her.

"I mean, thank you." He looked at me seriously, but I could tell he was still in a dancing mood. Then he turned to Douglas and started making fun of him. I rolled my eyes and went to stand by Calla. She didn't say anything as I pulled her into my arms. She laid her head on my shoulder.

"You're an idiot." She said quietly. "I don't care how damaged your pride is. Don't do that to me again."

I smiled. "Deal." She pulled back, then pressed her lips to mine. Leo cleared his throat and we pulled back.

"Grow up, would ya?" Calla snapped at him. He shrugged.

"What? Jaden's paying me ten bucks to keep an eye on the PDA between the two of you." He replied. Calla groaned just as her phone rang.

"Speak of the devil!" she exclaimed. She answered the phone. "You bribed Leo to keep me and Chase from kissing each other! Jaden!...Oh, tell her I'm going to be late. Why?" she glanced at me, a smirk on her lips. "Oh you know, Douglas showed up, Chase turned evil, and I learned that Adam made a list of everything he's ever eaten. See ya!"

We all stared at her. "What? It's more fun to confuse him than give him an actual reason why I'm going to be late for family movie night. Plus, it's his turn to pick the movie, and I'm not going to watch Sharknado for a fifth time."

"So, what are we going to do with frozen Uncle Dougy?" Bree asked, bringing our attention back to the massive ice block. Mr. Davenport.

"I don't know. Maybe ship him to one of my off shore facilities. Or we could get some rock-salt and make the evilest batch of ice cream ever!" Adam and I grinned. That sounded fun.

"Speaking of the unfreeze button." Leo said suddenly. We all looked at him.

"We weren't speaking of the unfreeze button." I told him. He nodded.

"Well, we probably should." He replied. Calla gasped.

"Leo, they aren't still…" she trailed off, eyes widening. He nodded grimly. "Oh my god, Leo! You are so dead. No, beyond dead. They're going to kill you, then kill your ghost. And then they're going to kill your ghost's ghost!"

"What are you two talking about?" Mr. Davenport demanded. Calla looked at Leo.

"Would you like to tell them, or shall I?" she seemed very eager to get Leo in trouble. Leo sighed.

"Follow me." He headed towards the elevator. We all followed. Once we hit the main floor, we realized why he kept asking about the unfreeze button. Sitting in the middle of the living room were two large ice blocks, one containing Janelle, and the other containing Tasha. I sighed. Classic Leo.

"Yep. Calla's right. You're dead." Bree agreed. Adam grinned.

"Ooh! Ice!" he walked towards Tasha's ice block with his tongue out, but we pulled him back.

"Listen, we have to fix this! Janelle's mom is going to be here any minute!" Leo exclaimed.

"Okay, I'll just use my heat vision." Adam replied. I shook my head.

"Then Janelle would see you using your bionics." I reminded him. Calla looked at me.

"Not while she's frozen in suspended animation." She told me. Adam looked between the ice blocks, unsure of what to do.

"You heard the man!" Leo exclaimed. "Light them up! Actually, wait. These ladies are going to be really upset. I need a running start."

Leo bolted out the front door. Adam went to melt Tasha's ice block, but Mr. Davenport also stopped him. "Wait! Me too!" he ran after Leo.

Adam sighed and turned back to Tasha. "Wait!" Calla exclaimed. We looked at her. "Do you guys have anything to eat? I'm hungry."

With that, she walked into the kitchen. Adam grinned, then shot his heat vision at Tasha's ice block. It melted quickly, leaving only a soaking wet Tasha behind. Then he melted Janelle's.

"What happened?" Janelle demanded.

"Leo happened." Tasha growled. I smirked. I had the feeling that Leo wasn't going to survive the night.


	11. Perry 2.0.

** Chase's POV **

"Seriously though! Check it out!" Calla exclaimed, showing me her phone as she, Leo, and I walked into the school lobby. Apparently, Rebeccka had started texting her random things at random times of the day. And each text was weirder than the last.

"Edmund is a racist lizard-koala." I read aloud. I looked at Calla. "I'm sorry, but what?"

"You tell me. I thought she liked that Edmund guy." Calla replied. "At least this is better than the first text she sent me."

"What was the first text she sent you?" Leo asked curiously.

"Holy crap! It's Ted!" Calla read off her phone. "That girl has issues."

"No kidding." Leo smirked, then frowned. "Hey, what's that?" he asked. We all turned to see Principal Perry walking into the center of the lobby. One of my fellow mathletes, Ryan, was following her with a speaker.

"Morning germ sacks!" She greeted in her usual way. The only difference was that she was using a microphone rather than yelling at us. "I know that you've all been complaining that the technology around here isn't quite…" the microphone glitched "isn't quite…" another glitch.

Principal Perry banged the microphone against her hand and it let out an awful screech. Not for the first time, I despised having super sensitive bionic hearing. "…state of the art." Principal Perry finished when the screeched died away. "So, thanks to yours truly, we're getting cutting edge equipment for the whole school to enjoy."

"Seriously?" Leo gasped. He wasn't the only one. Everyone seemed excited about the new equipment, and I didn't blame them. It would be so great to have something in the school that wasn't powered by a hamster.

"Jojo, Betty, wheel it in like it's hot!" Principal ordered. We turned to see two of the lunch ladies roll in a cart with a sheet on top.

"Hey, has it ever occurred to you that there are more lunch ladies in this school than teachers?" Calla asked me. I smirked.

"The food's not even that good." I replied. She laughed quietly.

"Behold, Mission Creek High's brand new…" The lunch ladies ripped off the sheet to reveal a TV from the eighties "…media center!"

"I don't think you can call it technology if you have to change the channel with pliers." Leo commented. I frowned, wrinkling my nose as a disgusting odour hit my nose.

"Why do I smell formaldehyde?" Calla questioned, obviously recognizing the odour as well. The school had used it to preserve frogs for dissections until the health board forced them to use safer products.

"Because, I found it on the curb outside the morgue." Principal Perry replied. We all stared at her. "I'm getting all my Christmas presents there too. My Aunt Diana's getting sheets."

"How is this thing new?" I demanded.

"It's new to you, lady-face." She retorted. I frowned. I did not have a lady-face!

"I'm pretty sure this thing is older than Mrs. Thistle." Calla commented. Leo looked at her.

"Wait, that's possible?" he asked. Principal Perry ignored both of them.

"Okay, let's fire up the media center!" She grinned, plugging it in. The screen turned on for a brief second, then sparks flew from it and every light in the school shut off. "Okay, minor set back. But for the record, you all look much better in this light."

We all glared at her, but she walked away. Calla sighed, pulled out her phone, and activated the flashlight app.

"Mr. Harrison's English class, follow me!" she ordered. Leo and I, along with ten of kids in the hall, followed her as she led the way to our first period class.

** Bree's POV **

"Excuse me?" I turned around to see a boy my age. He was tall, had an Irish accent, and I had never seen him before.

"Hi." I greeted. Jaden and Adam turned away from their talk of the Olympics to see who I was talking to.

"Terribly sorry to trouble you, but could you help me find me locker?" he asked. Adam frowned.

"I'm sorry; none of us speak leprechaun." The boy looked confused and slightly offended. I smiled.

"But he is fluent in doofus." I told the boy. He smiled and handed me his sheet of paper. "Oh, you're right there!" I pointed to the locker next to Jessica's. "Number 324."

"Brilliant." The boy grinned. "Oh, I'm Alistair by the way. I'm a foreign exchange student from Ireland."

"Nice to meet you Alistair. I'm Bree, this is my brother Adam, and our friend Jaden. I can show you around, Jaden can show you all the sports teams and Adam…can show you how to warm up a sandwich in your armpit." I said cheerfully. Adam nodded.

"Yeah, but I'm warning you. The cheese steaks are going to get messy." Alistair smiled, as if he thought it was a joke.

"Welcome to America." Jaden told him. Alistair nodded.

"Cheers." He replied, heading to his locker. I smiled; what a nice guy. Suddenly, Adam dragged Jaden and I into a quiet corner.

"Wait a second." Mr brother said, frowning. "New kid from a foreign country…do you know what this means?"

"That Kaitlin may have gone to Ireland as a foreign exchange student and I'm free of her?" "That you're not the only the only one we'll have to speak slowly to?" Jaden and I replied at once. Adam ignored us, and glared at Alistair.

"No! He's a bionic spy." He said. Jaden frowned.

"Like Marcus?" he asked. Adam nodded.

"Think about it; Marcus was the new kid and look what happened with him!" He exclaimed. "We can't take any chances. Bree, you hold him down, Jaden and I will strip him for parts."

I grabbed Adam to stop him from tackling the poor, unsuspecting kid. "Adam, you are overreacting. Alistair seems like a nice guy." I gave said new kid a wave. He waved back, then headed off to find his first class.

"Well, didn't Marcus also seem like a nice guy?" Jaden asked. I stared at him.

"You're not seriously going along with this, are you?" I thought that he would at least have some sense. He nodded.

"Alistair is a bionic spy and we're going to prove it!" Adam announced. "Even if we have to learn how to speak Ireland-ish."

He stormed off, Jaden running after him. Sighing, I followed them both. I could have walked away. Usually, I would. But Jaden and Adam working together put too much stupid in the room.

** Chase's POV **

I couldn't believe it. We had a school-wide blackout, but they didn't even cancel classes. We had to do everything in the dark! They even assigned us homework!

"Hey Calla, read what's on page 47 of your textbook." I told her. Leo was upstairs, grabbing snacks for us (well, mainly him) while we worked on our history homework.

"I don't have a page 47." Calla replied sweetly. "I have a 4, a 12, a 32, and what I sincerely hope is gum on page 98."

I glanced at her page, and decided that it was probably for the best if she continued believing that was gum. She would be absolutely disgusted if she knew the truth. "This book is so old! Listen to this. Chapter 4: Horseless Carriages Taking Over the Streets of America."

Calla shook her head sadly. "Other schools teach on laptops and tablets."

"Meanwhile, we're reading textbooks that warn us the British are coming." Leo commented, walking into the lab. He was carrying a bowl of popcorn and Mr. Davenport was right behind him.

"We need to do something to bring Mission Creek High to the twenty-first century!" Calla exclaimed. Mr. Davenport grinned.

"Maybe I can help." He offered.

"NO!" We all exclaimed. Mr. Davenport looked offended.

"I am a genius tech mobile. I could revolutionize your whole school! Why wouldn't you want me to help?" he demanded. Calla looked at him.

"Because every time you try to help, it starts in a good place, but then your ego takes over and ruins everything." Mr. Davenport glared at her.

"That is not true! Give me one example!" He demanded.

"Last week, you gave me a new back pack." Leo told him.

"You said you needed a backpack." Mr. Davenport said.

"A backpack." Leo agreed. "Not this." Leo pulled out his new backpack. It was white, except for the picture of Mr. Davenport's face on it.

"All the guys at the office loved theirs." Mr. Davenport retorted. Calla shook her heads.

"They don't." she told him. "Trust me on that. They all dumped them in the trash on the way out." Mr. Davenport gave her a silencing look.

"You don't get it. This is our school we're talking about." I tried to explain.

"Yeah, whatever disaster you create there will affect us everyday." Leo added.

"Guys, I promise I won't embarrass you." Mr. Davenport assured us. "This is about your school, not about me."

Leo and I exchanged looks. We weren't too sure about this. "Guys, our school really could use the help." Calla told us. I nodded. She had a point.

"Fine, but you keep that ego under control." Leo ordered. Mr. Davenport rolled his eyes.

"Don't worry. My ego is officially checked." He promised. Suddenly, his phone rang.

" _Davenport, Davenport, somebody wants to call Davenport."_  Mr. Davenport quickly put it on silent.

"Come on! That's just catchy!" He defended himself. We stared at him.

"I give it twenty-four hours until the school hates you two." Calla whispered to me. I really hoped she was wrong.

** Xxx **

"Okay, I'll admit it. This is pretty cool." Calla grinned, walking over to us with a new tablet in her hands. I nodded; it was better that I expected.

"Check it out guys!" Mr. Davenport jogged over to us. "Electronic bulletin boards, tablets instead of textbooks, and this is the coolest part."

He walked us over to Leo's locker. It had a strange scanner on it now, instead of a lock. "Check it out. By the end of today, I will have fingerprint scanners on all the lockers." I grinned. "We were going to do retinal scanning, but it turns out eyeballs are highly flammable."

"Yeah, don't forget to mail that 'I'm sorry your eye caught fire' apology card to Molly tonight." Calla reminded him. He nodded. Leo put his finger on the scanner. It flashed red, then turned green and opened.

"Hello Leo Dooley." An electronic voice greeted. We stared at it in amazement.

"So, what do you think?" Mr. Davenport asked. Leo grinned.

"I think it's going to be a lot harder to get out of when someone locks me inside." He replied. Mr. Davenport rolled his eyes, closing the door.

"I've got to hand it to you Mr. Davenport, this is amazing." I admitted. He grinned.

"See? I told you it would be great." He bragged. Suddenly, there I heard something behind us. I turned and saw a large robot in a pantsuit walking into the lobby.

"And I see you gave Principal Perry a makeover." Calla smirked. "I especially love what you did to her face."

"Zip it Parker." The robot said to Calla. We looked at Mr. Davenport for an explanation.

"That's not Principal Perry, it's Robo Perry. She's a robot!" he explained as Principal Perry walked up and hugged her robotic self.

"And she's beautiful!" she exclaimed. She started kissing it on each cheek.

"Make it stop!" Leo begged, his hands over his eyes. I didn't blame him. It was very creepy.

"Anyway," Even Mr. Davenport was disturbed by the scene "I designed Robo Perry so she could roam the halls, handing out detentions while…"

"…I'm on a three hour lunch break." Principal Perry cut in. "Or lurking elsewhere."

I looked at Mr. Davenport. "How could you do this?" I demanded.

"Simple. I took the foundations of a robot I built for private security, and I repurposed the software and of course I matched her vocal pattern. It wasn't easy matching the sounds of a gravel truck unloading with a bear in labour, but I got it."

"I always wanted a super cute twin sister." Principal Perry said. "I'm going to buy us matching bikinis!"

"And I'm going to gouge my eyes out!" Leo replied. Calla gasped and looked at Mr. Davenport.

"Hey, can I borrow the retinal scanner that set Molly's eyes on fire? I think I might have a use for it." She grinned. I almost agreed with her,

"Shut it Dooley." "Shut it Parker." Robo Perry and Principal Perry snapped. They then hugged each other, the latter grinning. "Thanks Don."

Principal Perry went to hug Mr. Davenport, but he didn't let her. "You're welcome." He replied. I grabbed his arm and pulled him away.

"Why would you make another Perry?" I demanded.

"Principal Perry said that if I make her life easier, she's going to name a wing of the school after me." He explained. We glared at him.

"You sold us out just to have your name above a doorway?" I couldn't believe it. Actually, I could. I should have expected it, really.

"Once again, your ego takes over and ruins everything."

"Hey, if my name on this school brings more prestige and funding because I'm so awesome, that's a win-win-win. That's three wins! That's a Daven-win."

"A Daven-win." Calla repeated. She shrugged. "Makes sense seeing as he's really the only one who actually wins."

I nodded, not able to stop myself from agreeing.

** Bree's POV **

"Hey Jaden, can you toss me my water bottle?" I asked. Jaden grabbed the bottle and tossed it, but it flew over my head. Alistair quickly reached out and caught it.

"Wow." I gasped. That should have been an impossible catch. Apparently, Adam thought so too, because he walked over to us, a suspicious look on his face.

"I believe this is yours." Alistair smiled at me and gave me back my water bottle.

"How'd you grab that so fast?" I asked. Adam pushed me out of the way.

"Yeah, how'd you do that?" he demanded. Alistair shrugged.

"It must have been me quick reflexes." He replied. Adam looked at me and Jaden, then mouthed the words 'BIONIC SPY'.

"Or maybe it's just the luck of the Irish." He joked. Adam rolled his eyes, not believing him at all. "No, not digging the Irish? I can do American, if you like."

He cleared his throat. "I like pickup trucks, Spring Break, and extra large portions. Heeyah!" he said in an American accent. I stared at him.

"What happened to your accent?" Jaden asked.

"Pretty cool, huh?" he asked, back in his Irish accent. "It's one of me special abilities. I can sound like almost anybody. French, German, Russian." He started speaking in a Russian accent. "It is a pleasure to be in your country."

Now, we were all staring at him. No way…Adam and Jaden were right! "Wow, that's pretty impressive."

"There's plenty more where that came from, sweetheart." He said, doing another impression. "Hey someday, and that day may never come, maybe you'll do an impression for me, huh?"

He walked away after that. I turned to Adam and Jaden. "Did you hear that? He said 'special abilities'." Jaden told us. I nodded.

"I know. And that accent thing was just like my vocal manipulation." I agreed.

"Yeah!" Adam exclaimed. "But your old Italian guy is way better than his."

I smiled slightly at the compliment. "Wait, back up a few moments." Jaden requested. "Vocal manipulation? What's that?"

"Remember when I copied Principal Perry?" I reminded him. He scowled.

"Calla told me you were using an invention." He growled. I smirked.

"Yeah, I know. How could you have fallen for that?" I laughed. Jaden rolled his eyes.

"So, what do you want to do about Alistair?" he asked. I smirked, a plan formulating in my mind.

"I've got an idea." I told him.

** Chase's POV **

"Keep it up, Chip Thomas, and you will be in detention forever you, searching database for insult, mouth-breather." Calla, Leo and I watched as Robo Perry dragged another student off to detention.

"Great! Now everyone in school hates us!" I exclaimed as Chip glared at us.

"Yeah, but now it's high tech hate." Leo commented. Calla sighed.

"I know! Even Rebeccka and Jessica are giving me the evil eye, and that's just for knowing you two!" she complained as Mr. Davenport walked into the lobby.

"Hey, how come you guys aren't eating in the Davenportarium?" he asked.

"Funny thing. When your dad creates an even worse version of the worse principal ever, kids tend to turn on you." As I said this, a guy walked by and knocked my banana out of my hand. I sighed and accepted the granola bar Calla offered me.

"Don't worry; I'm sure this will all blow over as soon as kids get used to Robo Perry." He promised me. "Remember when you first met Leo? You couldn't stand him. Neither did Calla."

"What?" Leo looked at the two of us, highly offended. "I'm awesome! How could you not like me?"

"Do you want the list alphabetically, or chronologically?" Calla asked in response. I chuckled as Principal Perry walked up.

"Donny D!" she greeted.

"Principal P!" Mr. Davenport replied before doing a special handshake with her.

"Old people." Leo commented, having forgotten about our previous conversation. "You don't think you are, but you are."

"You are a genius." Principal Perry told Mr. Davenport.

"And you are a master of the obvious." He replied. She laughed.

"Robo Perry is amazing." She exclaimed. "I know it's only been a few days, but…do you smell that?"

I sniffed the air. "Moist cat food?" I replied.

"I was running late! I grabbed a can, I thought it was tuna, live with it!" I raised my hands in surrender. "Fear. It's fear. And it's everywhere! It's the best smell in the world."

"Personally, I prefer crispy minted hundreds, but whatever floats your boat, Perry Bomb." Mr. Davenport replied.

"Anyway, I was telling the superintendant how wonderful Robo Perry is and he's bringing the entire school board by this afternoon to check her out. Soon, if we're lucky, there'll be a Robo Perry in every school in the district." Principal Perry grinned. We grimaced. Great, now we're going to be hated by the entire district.

"And after that, every school in America." Mr. Davenport grinned as well.

"Great, now kids we've never met will hate us." Leo commented.

They ignored him. "Donald Davenport, the children's savoir." Mr. Davenport said. "I'm going to make so much money!"

"As your partner, I'll be happy to give you thirty percent." Principal Perry replied.

"I think you're forgetting who created this work of genius." Mr. Davenport reminded her, the smile still on his face.

"I think you're forgetting who's putting the deal together." She retorted. They both chuckled. "Why don't we go discuss this in my office? I think a lot more clearly in my butt massaging chair."

Mr. Davenport stared at her. "I'm sorry, I blacked out after the word chair." He apologized. Principal Perry ignored him and led him to her office. Suddenly, a thought occurred to me.

"Wait a second." I frowned. Calla and Leo turned to me. "How come we're the only ones getting the bad end of this? Where are Adam and Bree?"

"I don't know." Calla replied, sending one of them a quick text. She got the response a second later. "We're tormenting the new kid with your brother." She read aloud, then frowned. "Is this one of those times where we're better off not knowing?"

"Yeah." Oh, totally." Leo and I replied.

** Bree's POV **

"There he is!" Jaden hissed as we walked into the cafeteria. Sorry, Davenportarium, according to the sign above the door. Really, I didn't even want to know how that happened.

"Okay, before we do anything drastic, we need proof that Alistair is a bionic spy." I warned him and Adam. Knowing my brother, he'd attack first and ask questions later. Actually, on second thought, he'd probably skip the questions altogether.

"Right. Going to mission mode." He waved a hand over his face and became serious.

"Okay, Jaden and I will interrogate him and see if he slips up. But we have to subtle so let us handle this." I told him. He nodded.

"Right. Going to subtle mode." He waved his hand over his face again.

"So, Alistair." I greeted, walking over to him. Jaden was right behind me, trying to act casual, while Adam was glaring intensely at the new kid. "What brings you to America?"

"Well, it's a beautiful country and the people are…" Alistair trailed off and turned his head to see Adam's harsh glare. "What are you doing?"

"What are YOU doing?" Adam retorted.

"Just having a little lunch. You know, recharging me batteries." Alistair replied. Adam's eyes widened.

"Oh, so you run on batteries, do you now?" Adam questioned. Jaden glared at him.

"What's your game, Alistair?" he demanded. I groaned and reminded myself to teach them the meaning of the word subtle.

"Maybe I should just take me chips and go." Alistair said, getting up with his tray.

"Chips huh? What chips would those be? The bionic chip in your head? Where are you going? Are you scared? You should be because WE'RE ON TO YOU!" Adam shouted, drawing everyone's attention to us.

"Everyone, back to your food. Nothing to see here." Jaden told all of them. They did as he asked, a little too used to seeing us act weird.

"Be honest, was that too subtle?" Adam asked. I groaned and Jaden face-palmed.

** Chase's POV **

Leo, Calla and I jumped out from behind the stair well. Robo Perry was just sitting on the bench, turned off and recharging. We quickly snuck over to her.

"Okay, coast is clear, everyone's in class, and Robo Perry's charging." Leo informed us.

"Calla, where did Mr. Davenport put her control panel?" I asked. She hesitated.

"Are you sure you want to know?" she asked. I nodded, frowning. "Alright then. Under her left armpit."

"You're joking." I pleaded. She shook her head. "Hundreds, hundreds of places to choose from, and he puts it there?"

Calla giggled slightly. "Yeah, I know." She agreed. "Have fun."

I rolled my eyes and lifted Robo Perry's arm. Grimacing, I accepted the screwdriver from Calla and started to reprogram the robot.

"There we go." I said as I finished. "Instead of seeing Robo Perry patrolling the halls, the school board will see this."

I lowered her arm and unplugged her. She stood up and began to dance. We all laughed and began to dance as well.

"Oh, hey Mr. Davenport." Calla greeted suddenly. I stopped dancing as Mr. Davenport ran over to us.

"What did you guys do to her?" he demanded.

"Tapped into her control panel and adjusted the settings. You messed with us, now it is payback time." I replied with a grin on my face. Mr. Davenport looked horrified.

"No, no. Robo Perry's original programming was for military control. If any unauthorized user tampers with it, it resets to its factory default." He explained. Calla paled and backed away.

"Oh, crap." I didn't get what the problem was.

"So reset her date and time. Big deal." I replied.

"Chase, the factory default is search and destroy." Calla informed me. I looked between her and Mr. Davenport.

"That might be a problem." I admitted. Mr. Davenport looked both angry and terrified at the same time.

"Now it's locked in and I can't stop it!" he exclaimed. Robo Perry looked at Mr. Davenport.

"Threat detected." She announced, grabbing his arms. Mr. Davenport screamed as he was thrown across the room into the lockers.

"That's what you call a Daven-splat." Leo commented. I nodded, then ran to help Mr. Davenport up. Meanwhile, Robo Perry started destroying the school, garbage can by garbage can.

"We've got to stop her before she destroys the whole school." Mr. Davenport hissed at us.

"I think we can divert her attention and lure her into that empty class room." I pointed at the History classroom across the hall. Calla nodded.

"Great idea. But we'll need some bait." She agreed. We all looked at Leo.

"Me, why me?" he demanded.

"Because you're…you're…" I couldn't think of a reason other than the fact that I wanted to live.

"Brave?" Leo asked hopefully. We all jumped on that answer.

"Brave!" we agreed.

"Alright, I'll do it." Leo stepped forward. "Hey Robo Perry, over…" he said the last bit so quietly, I could hardly hear him.

"Oh, get over there!" Calla exclaimed, pushing Leo into the line of fire.

Leo took a deep breath. "Hey! Over here, buts and bolts!" he shouted. I grinned.

"Tiny threat detected." Robo Perry stated.

"Okay, I am too big to be tiny and too tiny to be a threat." Leo complained. Robo Perry charged at him and he ran into the classroom. She followed him. We ran to the door, but stopped when we heard the several crashes, Leo's screaming, and the occasional 'thud'.

"Aim for the bolts!" Mr. Davenport suggested. Leo scrambled out the door on his hands and feet, Robo Perry right behind him. Mr. Davenport and I slammed the door shut and had to hold it close.

"Leo, are you okay?" Calla demanded. He was sitting in the fetal position, shaking and rocking back and forth.

"Guys, I've seen some things." He said, in a horrified voice. Calla looked at me for help, then sat down beside Leo, rubbing his back as he shook.

Meanwhile, Mr. Davenport and I were trying to keep Robo Perry from escaping. It took all of our strength just to keep the door closed.

"How could you three do this to me?" Mr. Davenport demanded.

"We had to! You doubled the Perry, which doubled our pain!" I exclaimed.

"Pain! You don't know pain!" Leo cried. Calla shrugged helplessly, still trying to comfort him. "I am a damaged little boy."

Robo Perry slammed against the door. "Maybe you guys are right." Mr. Davenport admitted. "From now on, I promise not to let my ego get the better of me. Which shouldn't be hard, because I am so awesome at everything."

Just then, Principal Perry, along with the school board, walked in. "Oh great, the school board." Mr. Davenport said with fake enthusiasm.

"This demonstration will show that Mission Creek High is school of the future." Principal Perry was saying. "And there's the man that's 30% responsible for it, Donald Davenport."

"Calla!" Mr. Davenport hissed. She nodded and took his spot against the door as he got up to go greet the school board. "Principal Perry." He greeted.

"What's the word, Donny bird?" she laughed in response. "Uh, where's Robo me?"

"She is supervising a parent teacher conference." He lied. Principal Perry nodded as Robo Perry slammed against the door once again. This time, Leo had to help us keep the door shut. "It's not going well."

"Well, get that beautiful hunk of metal out here. I want to show her off." Principal Perry asked. Mr. Davenport chuckled nervously.

"Well, why don't we just stay out here and look at that big, beautiful hunk of…you." Mr. Davenport improvised. Principal Perry smiled at the compliment.

"Ah!" The door beneath us was ripped away so fast, I nearly fell through it. As Calla, Leo and I jumped back as Robo Perry stormed out.

"There she is!" Principal Perry cooed. "Come give you sissy a kissy."

"Threat detected." The robot stated. Principal Perry laughed.

"Threat? I'm not threat. What are you talking about?" she asked, confused.

"Destroy. Destroy." Robo Perry chanted, walking towards Principal Perry. Several of the school officials started backing up.

"Destroy me? Oh, honey, many have tried." She laughed. The two Perrys attacked each other. Calla quickly pulled out her phone.

"We're not getting much of an education, but where else can you see this?" she laughed. I couldn't help but chuckle. She had a point.

** Bree's POV **

"I love gym class!" Jaden exclaimed as he walked over to us. It was one of the few classes that we had together, along with Alistair. Said bionic spy was talking to some kids, trying to make friends.

"Okay, since our subtle interrogation failed," I glared at the two boys "I think it's time we try a different tactic." I told them.

"Or, we could do exactly what we did before and hope for different results." Adam suggested. I rolled my eyes.

"What's the plan Bree?" Jaden asked me. At least he was listening to me.

"Well, I was thinking about a friendly game of dodge ball." I handed Jaden and Adam each a dodge ball and they grinned. "If Alistair is really bionic, his instinctive reflexes will automatically kick in."

"Okay, but if this doesn't work, he and I are going to play a little game called Truth or Wedgie." Adam told me. He looked at Jaden. "You in?"

"No thanks. I think that counts as bullying dude." Jaden replied. Adam shrugged.

"Hey, Alistair!" I called. He turned around.

"Oh, hello guys." He greeted, a smile on his face.

"Bree, Jaden and I want to a great American game called dodge ball." Adam explained. Alistair grinned.

"Oh, that sounds lovely." He replied. "How do you-"

Jaden threw the dodge ball at Alistair's stomach. He hit the ground as Adam and Jaden continued to throw balls at him. "Uh, guys? Those don't look like bionic reflexes." I told them.

"That's because he knows we suspect him. He's hiding them. This guy's good." Adam exclaimed as Alistair slowly got to his feet. Adam grabbed another two dodge balls and threw them at him, sending him back to his knees.

"I'm sort of with you. Right now, this seems like unjustified torture." Jaden whispered to me, dropping the two balls in his hands. I nodded in agreement.

"Adam, that's enough!" I shouted. This was pointless! Adam stopped, a goofy grin on his face.

"It's a good thing this guy is bionic, or this would really hurt." He grinned. Jaden cleared his throat.

"I don't think he's bionic, dude." He told him. Adam frowned.

"Oh come on! He has to be!" Adam argued. I sighed and grabbed his arm and pulled him away from Alistair. Jaden followed as I forced Adam to the opposite side of the gym.

"We've been torturing this kid all day!" I exclaimed. "Maybe he's not bionic."

Adam laughed. "Bree, this is America! He is guilty until proven innocent. One last test."

He ran over and grabbed Alistair as he was about to leave. Jaden and I followed reluctantly. "Alistair, buddy." Adam grinned. "Do you wanna hang with Bree, Jaden and me? It'll be fun."

"You know, maybe it's a cultural thing, but my idea of fun involves a lot fewer bruises." Alistair replied, trying to get away.

"Aly, look." Adam pulled him back and started leading him towards a set of weights. "If you want people to stop picking on you, you should probably pump some iron."

"Oh no, I'm good." Alistair tried to refuse. Adam smiled.

"Oh, I really think you should." He argued cheerfully.

"No. To be honest, I'm not much of a weight lifter." Alistair objected.

"Oh, come on. You can do it." Adam encouraged.

"You know, I've got some studying to do and I really-" Alistair was cut off by Adam.

"Stop arguing and just do it." He said as he lifted the weight set. The entire weight set. Alistair screamed like a little girl and ran off.

"Adam!" I exclaimed. He frowned.

"What?" he asked. Jaden I gestured towards the weight set still in his hands. He did a double take. "OH! Do you think he saw?"

Instead of answering him, Jaden and I ran after Alistair.

"Principal Perry! Principal Perry! You have to help me!" He ran towards what appeared to be a metallic version of Principal Perry. The silver principal grabbed Alistair and threw him across the room where he landed on several important looking people.

"Now she knows how to lift!" Jaden exclaimed.

"I see stars." Alistair muttered. "And yellow moons, and green clovers."

"Well, that settles that." I said, crossing my arms. "He's definitely not bionic."

"Yep." Adam finally agreed. "But leprechaun is still on the table." We ran over to where Calla, Chase, Leo and Mr. Davenport were standing.

"What's going on?" Jaden demanded. They quickly caught us up to speed with the situation.

"Mr. Davenport, how are we going to stop Robo Perry?" Chase questioned.

"We don't have a choice; you're going to have to use your bionics." Mr. Davenport sighed.

"You want them to expose themselves in front of the school board?" Calla demanded, shocked that he would propose such a thing.

"No, he wants us to use our bionics in front of the school board." Adam corrected her. We ignored him.

"Well, we have to do something!" Mr. Davenport snapped. "Robo Perry's going to destroy the entire school! Just do it!"

We nodded and got ready as Robo Perry walked up to us. But before we could do anything, the robot was tackled to the ground by a screaming Principal Perry. She ripped off her robot duplicate's head and stood up, holding it high. "There can be only one!"

We all stared in amazement. "Still one too many." Leo joked. We all laughed.

** Xxx **

"Hey Alistair." We walked over to said boy's locker. After everything that happened yesterday, we had to talk to him.

"Look, about yesterday, with the weight rack…" Adam started to make up an excuse, but Alistair cut him off.

"To be honest, I don't really remember much about yesterday." Alistair admitted.

"You can't?" I asked, surprised.

"No. I knocked me noggin some how." He replied. "Everything after dodge ball is just a blur." Adam, Jaden and I exchanged relieved looks.

"Oh, and speaking of dodge ball." Alistair continued. "I've been practicing. I even put a team together. All foreign exchange students."

"That's pretty cool Alistair." Jaden said as we turned around. Behind us were five other kids, holding dodge balls.

"Lads, lasses, show them what you've got." Alistair instructed. I ducked behind Jaden as we were pelted by dodge balls. "As you Americans like to say, you just got schooled players! HOLLAR!"

Alistair walked away, his team following him. Jaden looked at us. "Okay, I know I'm new at this, but does this usually happen?" he asked. I sighed.

"More often than you think." I admitted.


	12. Prank You Very Much

** Bree's POV **

I yawned, walking into the lab. Calla, Jessica, Rebeccka and I had spent the day shopping, and I was exhausted. I noticed Adam and Leo as I walked in. It looked like they were trying to act natural and if they were; they were really bad at it.

"Let me guess; pranking Chase again?" I guessed. Adam shook his head.

"No." He replied, then burst out laughing. "Yeah."

I rolled my eyes. "Adam, you are so immature." I told him. He shrugged.

"I've been called worse." He replied. I sighed. There was no use arguing with Adam when he was pulling pranks.

"Alright, well, I'm going to bed." I told him and Leo. "Wake me up when I'm old enough to move out."

"Got it." Adam replied as I stepped into my capsule. The second I shut the door, I was being drenched in a warm, white, chunky liquid. Wait, was that expired milk?!

"Oh, Chase's capsule is the one in the middle!" Adam exclaimed. I glared at him angrily.

"Adam!" I shouted, kicking open my capsule door. Oh! This always happened! Adam would try to prank Chase, or Chase would try to prank Adam, and I would end up being the victim! Always!

"I'll go get some towels." Leo offered, already running off. I glared at Adam.

"Why must you always do this to me?!" I demanded.

"Hey, it's not my fault that you always walk into our pranks." Adam retorted. Leo came running over then, carrying two towels and a few bottles of air freshener. I frowned at that, but after getting a whiff of the milk I was covered in, I didn't blame him. The lab doors opened just as Adam pulled out a window wiper stick and started cleaning my capsule.

"Rigged the wrong capsule again, Adam?" Chase guessed as he walked in.

"…maybe." Adam admitted as Mr. Davenport and Tasha walked in.

"What happened in here?" Mr. Davenport demanded. "And why does my lab smell like a locker room at a gym that only cows go to?"

I rolled my eyes at his bad joke. "Honey, who did this to you?" Tasha asked me.

"Who do you think?" I replied, pointing at Adam.

"Wow Bree. Ruining pranks and blaming others. You're not making any friends today, are you Bree?" Adam asked. I glared at him.

"Grandma Rose is going to be visiting tomorrow and I want this behavior to stop." Tasha told us. She looked at my brothers. "You three go get the cleaning supplies. Now."

They walked away, Leo and Chase grumbling about how they didn't do anything. "I am so sick of getting caught in their crossfire!" I exclaimed. "Last week, Chase was pranking Adam and I ended up in a pet store window!"

Mr. Davenport laughed. I looked at him. "It was funny." He said. I narrowed my eyes at them. "I'm sorry. Look, I will talk to them and lay down the law." He promised.

"Thank you." Tasha smiled at him before heading back upstairs. As soon as she was gone, Mr. Davenport looked back at me.

"Look, don't tell Tasha I told you this," he whispered "but the only way you're going to get them to stop, is to fight fire with fire. You have to prank them and you have to prank them hard!"

I grinned. "Do you really think that will work?" I asked. He nodded.

"Definitely." He promised. "Although, I would act fast, because I know for a fact that Adam has a barrel full of expired meat that he is dying to use."

We both grimaced in disgust. Then, he went upstairs as I carefully planned my pranks. This would be fun. Very fun.

** Calla's POV **

"Adam!" I shouted, walking into the Davenport's house. Instead of Adam, I ran into Leo's grandmother. "Oh, hello Mrs. Dooley."

"Cara, isn't it?" Leo's grandmother asked. I smiled.

"Calla, actually. You wouldn't happen to know where Adam is? I need to talk to him." I tried not to show how upset I was.

"Sorry, he's not here. He and Chase went to go pick up a pizza for dinner." Leo's grandmother replied. "And why is your hair wet?"

"I have a brother." I explained quickly. "What about Bree or Leo?"

"Well, my grand-baby is off with that Chantalle girl-" she started.

"Do you mean Janelle?" I asked, remembering how Leo mentioned having a date with her.

"Whatever." Leo's grandmother rolled her eyes and I got the feeling that she didn't really care. "But Bree said she was going to be in her room."

I frowned. Room? She didn't…oh, right. She meant the lab that Leo's grandmother didn't know about. I nodded. "Thanks! It's good to see you again."

Leo's grandmother shrugged and I headed down to the lab. Bree was on the floor, a bucket next to her and a rag in her hands.

"What are you doing?" I asked, hopping onto the counter. Bree grinned deviously.

"I'm pranking my brothers." She replied. I groaned.

"You too?" I questioned. "Seriously?"

"Why?" Bree asked. I crossed my arms.

"Well, your idiot brother Adam convinced Jaden that now was the perfect time for an April Fool's Day prank." I muttered. Bree smiled sympathetically.

"Is that why your hair's wet?" she guessed. I nodded.

"A bucket of water above my door." I replied. Bree shook her head. "I'd watch out if I were you Bree. You know how Adam gets about pranks."

"Trust me, I do. Yesterday, my capsule, fifty galleons of expired milk." She replied. I wrinkled my nose in disgust.

"Oh, gross!" I exclaimed. "Hey, at least he didn't use his expired meat."

"Am I seriously the last person to know about that?" Bree demanded. I shrugged.

"Yeah, probably. He keeps it in Mr. Davenport's art vault." I told her. "Because no one usually goes down there. But Mr. Davenport had a new painting that he put in there and I had to wash the floors as part of my 'busy work'." I glanced at the bucket and rag. "So seriously, what are you doing?"

"I'm pranking Adam and Chase." She pointed out the different pranks in the room and I grinned.

"Fighting fire with fire. I like it." I replied just as the elevator doors opened. Adam and Chase walked in just as Bree hid the bucket. She leaned against the counter beside me.

"Hey guys, what are you up to?" Bree asked them, maybe a little too enthusiastically.

"Six feet, two inches!" Adam exclaimed with a grin. He looked at Chase. "Oh, you don't have to answer. I know growing has been a life long struggle for you."

I bit back a smirk. Chase glared at Adam, then looked at Bree and I. "Wait a second. Whoopee cushion," he pointed at one of the chairs "bucket of iced water," he nodded at the bucket dangling above their heads "greased floors. Nope, nothing suspicious here."

Bree sighed, knowing that she'd been found out. "Seriously, do you think I was born tomorrow?" Adam asked. Bree groaned.

"I hate you guys! But I am so going to get you back!" Bree assured them. Chase smirked.

"Oh, please. By all means keep trying." He replied. "Your failure is adorable. I mean, girls can't pull pranks."

"Excuse me?" I demanded, looking at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing Cal." Chase replied. "But boys are naturals at pranking. Girls are terrible at it. It's a fact."

"Is it now?" Bree questioned. Chase nodded.

"Well, yeah." He said. Before I could say anything, an alarm came from his phone. Chase checked his phone.

"Uh-oh! Urgent mission alert!" He exclaimed. I frowned. Why had my phone not gone off? It was set to warn me about missions too. "There's a lethal virus outbreak in Denver! Bree, you have to super speed there ahead of us, or we'll be too late."

"On it!" Bree nodded and sped off, only to slip on the greased floor. She landed on her back, hard. I grimaced at her pain, while her brothers laughed.

"Ha! I set up a fake mission alert!" Chase informed us. "I knew you'd fall for it!"

Bree glared at him from her spot on the floor. I shook my head at my boyfriend's childishness. "Good one!" Adam laughed. "Now stop messing around! We've got to get to Denver."

Adam bolted from the room. Chase looked at me and Bree, a cocky smirk on his face. "Face it ladies; you two will never outwit the masters."

Bree slowly started to get up as Mr. Davenport walked into the room. "So, you tried to prank the boys, and it blew up in your face." He guessed, offering her a hand up.

"Is it that obvious?" Bree asked. He shook his head.

"No, I was watching from upstairs. Man, you really ate it." He replied. Bree sighed.

"Well, it's just not in my nature to be stupid and immature." She said. Mr. Davenport grinned.

"Good thing it's in mine." He told her. "I'm going to help you out because it comes to pranks, I am the undisputed champ."

Bree gave him a look. "Help me out?" she repeated. "Is that your nice way of saying you're going to do the whole thing by yourself while I sit there and watch?"

"No, I wasn't trying to be nice. You're really terrible at this." He informed her. I nodded.

"I second that." Bree sent me a glare. "Oh come on! You used a whoopee cushion! That is WAY to old fashioned!"

Mr. Davenport nodded his agreement and left the room. Bree looked at me. "What are you going to do about your brother?" she asked curiously. I grinned.

"I've got a few ideas. You can help me if you want, when we're done getting revenge on Adam and Chase." I offered. Bree smirked.

"You're helping with that?" she asked. I nodded.

"Hell yeah. Chase said that girls can't pull pranks as well as boys can. I'm going to prove him wrong." I replied. Besides, it would be hilarious to see Chase's reaction when he realized who pranked them.

** Bree's POV **

"So, is the prank ready?" I asked as Calla and I followed Mr. Davenport into the living room. He nodded.

"This is going to be great." He exclaimed. "I hid a high powered air bag inside the couch cushion." I grinned. "As soon as Adam and Chase sit down for their after school video games, boom! They're going to be airborne."

"Wait, isn't this dangerous?" I asked. Calla nodded.

"Yeah, couldn't they you know, get seriously injured?" Calla wondered. I looked at her, then Mr. Davenport.

"Please say yes!" I begged. He nodded.

"This is going to be the greatest prank ever!" Mr. Davenport exclaimed, just as Adam and Chase walked into the room.

"Whoa, prank?" Adam asked, opening the fridge. "What prank?"

The three of us froze. "No, not prank." Mr. Davenport lied. "I didn't say prank. I was talking about my friend Frank, actually. You've never met him. Big guy, German, enormous toes."

Chase rolled his eyes, although Adam was buying the story. "Oh, please. Give us a break. We know that you and Calla are trying to help Bree get back at us and it's not going to work."

"Wait," Adam interrupted "if his toes are that big, I really need to meet him."

Mr. Davenport glanced at Calla and I. "Abort prank, abort prank." He whispered through the side of his mouth. Calla and I slowly backed away.

"Just because you say it out of the side of your mouth, does not mean we can't hear you." Chase told us, an amused look in his eyes.

At that moment, Leo and his grandmother walked in. "Are you saying that you would rather spend time with her than me?" she was saying.

Leo looked at her. "No, you said it. But yes."

She gasped, and stumbled over to the couch. "Wait, no!" Mr. Davenport shouted, but it was too late. The second she sat down on the couch, she went flying into the air. She landed behind the couch a second later. We all ran over to her.

"Rose, are you okay?" Mr. Davenport asked worriedly. She glared at him.

"Do I look like I'm okay?" she demanded. Mr. Davenport grimaced, then helped her up. She cried out in pain as her left foot touched the floor.

"What's going on in here?" Tasha asked, running into the room. "Mom, are you alright? What happened?"

"You're crazy husband happened!" Leo's grandmother exclaimed, still holding onto him for support. Tasha looked at her mother, then at Mr. Davenport, then at all of us.

"Alright, Donald, help me get her to the car. I'm taking her to the hospital. Everyone else, stay here. No one leaves this house, do I make myself clear?" she ordered. Calla raised her hand.

"Well, my mom wants me home by…never mind." She stopped, seeing Tasha's glare. Tasha and Mr. Davenport went outside, Mr. Davenport coming back in a minute later. Leo looked at all of us, completely confused.

"Does anyone want to explain why the couch exploded?" he asked. Calla sighed.

"Prank gone wrong. Totally Mr. Davenport's fault." She replied. "But don't worry Leo, I'm sure your grandmother will be alright."

We didn't say much for the next while. In fact, aside from Calla calling Jaden and Adam grabbing food from the fridge, we really didn't do much except wait. After a few hours, the door finally opened.

"Grandma!" Leo exclaimed, hopping off to give her a hug. The poor woman was limping, using crutches for support.

"Hey sugar. I'm okay." Leo's grandmother assured him. Mr. Davenport went to help her, and she hit him with her crutch. "Get away from me! Can't you see I'm in pain!"

Leo helped her over to the couch, while Tasha glared daggers at Adam and Chase. "We're lucky it was just a sprained ankle. You two are in big trouble! An airbag in my sofa?"

"It wasn't us!" Chase objected as Mr. Davenport tried to sneak out of the room.

"It was Mr. Davenport!" Adam told Tasha, pointing. Mr. Davenport groaned in annoyance at Adam for ratting him out. Tasha looked at Mr. Davenport, a fake smile on her face.

"Donald? Is that true?" she asked. He sighed.

"Look, what happened was..there comes a moment…it…it was all Bree and Calla!" He lied, pointing at us. I stared at him.

"Excuse me?" "Liar!" We protested. Tasha raised an eyebrow at Mr. Davenport.

"What happened?" she demanded. "You said you were going to lay down the law. You lied to me."

Calla snickered. "Oh, he lies to you about a lot. Like this one time-"

"Calla!" Mr. Davenport cut her off. She smirked, but stopped talking. "I was just trying to teach them a lesson."

"What lesson?" Tasha asked. Mr. Davenport looked around, trying to think of an excuse.

"The principles of flight?" he tried. Tasha rolled her eyes.

"Well, since Grandma won't be able to get around for two weeks, you're going to be waiting on her." She decided. "Hand and foot."

"What?" Mr. Davenport demanded. Leo's grandmother grinned, clearly pleased with the idea.

"Yep, that hand, this foot." She replied. "Now prop me up with that pillow." Mr. Davenport sighed. "Today! Come on!"

He shoved a pillow behind her quickly. "Give me that blanket!" She ordered and he did as he was told. "Where's my soup?"

"Yeah, where's her soup?" Leo demanded in the same shrill tone. Mr. Davenport stared at him, while we tried not to laugh. "I'm sorry. I just got carried away. I'm having way too much fun with this."

Mr. Davenport sighed, and walked towards the kitchen. Then he stopped, turning towards us with a smirk on his face. "Calla, you know how to make soup, right?"

"Oh no you don't!" Tasha exclaimed before Calla could answer. "Donald, this is your doing, and you're going to serve the time. Calla, don't you dare help him."

"Yes m'am." Calla replied eagerly. She then grabbed my arm and started pulling me to the door. "Bree's sleeping over at my place!" she called, closing the door behind us. I frowned as we started towards her house.

"And we're having a random sleepover why?" I asked. She grinned.

"So we can plan the next prank without Adam or Chase over-hearing. But this time, let's try not to land anyone in a hospital."

** Calla's POV **

"Hey, we're back!" Bree announced as we walked into her place after our randomly timed sleep over. It was mid-afternoon on a Saturday, so the boys were doing their favorite activity: video games.

"Oh, hey Bree, can you grab me a water?" Adam asked, noticing us walk in. "I'm trying to beat Chase's high score and if I stop, his cyborg will melt me and if that happens a nucloneum bomb will go off and if that happens-"

"I will get your water. Just stop talking." Bree replied. I sighed.

"I'll get it." I offered, only to be stopped by Chase, who pulled me onto the couch next to him. "What are you doing?" I asked, as he returned his focus to the video game.

"I need my good luck charm." He lied. I knew he was lying. I don't know how, but I could always tell when Chase was lying to me. Before I could ask again, Tasha walked into the room.

"Hey guys, what do you want for dinner?" She asked, reaching for the fridge door.

"NO! DON'T OPEN THE-" Adam and Chase yelled, but it was too late. Ketchup and mustard sprayed out at Tasha, covering her face in a mixture of red and yellow. Bree and I gaped at her, while the boys looked rather guilty. "…fridge." Chase finished needlessly.

Tasha slowly turned to face us all. "Would it help at all if we said that was supposed to be Bree's face?" Chase asked, smiling nervously. Tasha looked furious, and if looks could kill, both boys would be a couple of corpses.

"But it looks just as good on you." Adam tried flattery. He failed to impress her.

"I don't care who the prank was for!" Tasha snapped. "Go get something to clean this mess up! Now!"

I ran and grabbed a roll of paper towels from under the sink as they trudged off. "Those boys never learn their lesson and some else always ends up paying for it." Tasha complained, wiping some of the mustard off her face.

"Welcome to my world!" Bree exclaimed. Tasha sighed.

"No, I think it is time to welcome them to  _my_  world." She replied. Bree and I nodded, completely confused.

"Right." Bree agreed. "What does that mean?"

"It means, nobody makes me a human hot dog." Tasha replied. Bree and I nodded again.

"Right. What does that mean?" I asked. Tasha sighed, but didn't answer as Mr. Davenport walked into the room.

"Hey! Look who's trying to cook again." He teased, seeing Tasha's appearance. She threw the roll of paper towels at him, then led me and Bree into the large bathroom, where she continued to clean herself up.

"We're going to prank them back, and we're going to prank them hard." She told us. Bree and I grinned as we started to plan what would be the ultimate prank.

** Bree's POV **

"So, I tracked down Mr. Davenport's friend Frank." Adam said to Chase, walking into the room. I glanced at Tasha and Calla, then nodded as he continued. "His toes aren't that big, but his forehead's huge!"

"Hey guys. Bree, Calla and I decided to make you some homemade cookies." Tasha told Adam and Chase, holding the tray out to them.

"They're fresh out of the oven." I told them. Calla smiled.

"Chocolate chip. Your favorite, Chase." She grinned at him. Adam grinned.

"Fresh, stale, hot, cold. Just put it in my mouth." He replied, reaching for one. Chase stopped him.

"Since when have Bree or Calla ever made us cookies?" he questioned. Adam gasped.

"You're right." He replied. He turned to us. "Thanks a lot guys. So kind of you."

Chase stopped him once again from grabbing a cookie. He focused his bionic vision on the cookies, scanning them just like Calla guessed he would. "Just as I suspected. Not only are those cookies filled with laxatives, but those chocolate chips aren't chocolate."

"So, caramel?" Adam guessed. Chase shook his head.

"You two are going to have to try a lot harder than that." He told us. I groaned.

"Busted again!" I complained. "I give up."

I started to walk away, but looked over my shoulder to see my brothers grab their video game remotes. "Amateurs." Chase was saying. "To think that we would fall for that."

Chase stopped, frowning in confusion while Tasha, Calla and I grinned as I grabbed a remote control from the counter. They were shaking the remotes, confused as to why they were stuck to their hands.

"Hey! What's the deal?" Chase demanded.

"Yeah, I'm stuck!" Adam complained. "Really guys, this is your prank? Glue on the hands?"

We just smiled at them. "Oh no, I guess we'll have to play more video games." Chase mocked.

"Gonna be kind of hard to do that from up there." I mused, walking over to my brothers.

"Up where?" Chase asked. I raised my hand and pressed the button on the remote. The remotes lifted their hands, and suddenly both Adam and Chase were hanging from a large magnet above their heads. We grinned up at them.

"Up there. Your controllers are made from metallic components so all we had to do is find a powerful magnet." I explained.

"Good thing I married a guy with five floors of expensive techno junk." Tasha commented. Adam and Chase glared at us.

"Okay, alright. You finally got us." Chase admitted grudgingly. "Good job Bree."

"Oh no, that was not Bree's prank. It was mine." Calla told them. "And the decoy cookies were Tasha's."

"Well that makes sense, since it actually worked." Adam commented. I sighed, but Calla and Tasha kept grinning.

"Look, whoever's prank it was, can you just put us down?" Chase questioned. I smiled.

"Okay, I'll let you down." I agreed, then sped off. I came back with a large kiddie-pool filled with the same disgustingness that started this prank war. Both boys grimaced as I shoved it beneath them. "Right down in a pool of your expired milk."

I hit the button on the remote, and they fell in. There was such a big splash that Calla, Tasha and I had to back up to avoid being hit. We laughed as they sat up, groaning in disgust.

"It's disgusting!" "And much chunkier than I remember!" They complained.

"Yeah, that's because we found your barrel of expired meat." I told Adam.

"I was saving that!" He snapped. I high-fived Tasha and Calla. Then Calla turned to Chase.

"By the way, if we're still going to the movies tonight, you might want to take a shower." She told him. He glared at her.

"Okay, now come on!" I grabbed Calla's arm and started pulling her outside. Time for part two of our revenge.

** Calla's POV **

"CALLA!" I looked up from my breakfast at the sound of my brother's voice. Grinning, I grabbed my phone and sent Bree a quick text.

** To: Bree **

** Jaden just discovered our handiwork. If I don't come to school today, it's because he killed me. **

"Calla!" Jaden shouted again, storming into the kitchen. I smiled at him, putting my phone down.

"Wow Jaden, did you do something new to your hair?" I asked innocently. He glared at me, but I couldn't help but giggle at the sight of his now hot pink hair.

"Hair dye in my shampoo. I'll admit that's a good one." He growled. "But my clothes too?"

He held up a handful of pink clothing. I shrugged, got up, and put my empty cereal bowl in the sink.

"It was Bree's idea. I can't believe that red sock in the washer trick actually worked." I commented. "Oh, and by the way, we have to leave in about five minutes, so you might want to get dressed in something over than your pajamas."

"They're the only thing I own that's not hot pink!" Jaden exclaimed. I shook my head.

"No, I think some of your socks ended up looking more magenta than hot pink." I laughed as Jaden tosses a tissue box at my head. I think that this time, it was the girls that won the prank war.


	13. No Going Back

** Bree's POV **

"I am SO glad that school is over!" I exclaimed. "Mrs. Thistle talked for an hour in history. I mean, she's ninety. Should she really be wasting all that breath?"

Adam shrugged. "Probably not." He agreed. I looked at Chase to see what he thought, but he was ignoring us, texting someone on his phone. And we all knew who that someone was.

"Hey, is Calla back yet?" Calla's great-uncle died a few weeks ago, and she, Jaden, and the rest of her family went out to Denver, his hometown, for the funeral. The rest of her family weren't due back until next Monday, but Jaden had a football tryout on Friday, so he convinced his parents to let him come back early and Calla convinced them to let her come with.

"Yeah, she got back right before last period, but said she was going to hang at our place so she could get some work done." Chase replied with a smile. "That, and apparently Leo's been so bored that he texted her eight times while she was on the plane."

I laughed; Leo had texted me twelve times already, asking me to ditch school just to entertain him. He could be so needy while he was sick.

"Hey, what's all this?" Chase asked suddenly. I turned to see a line of students putting their phones into a bucket. They were lined up in front of two cafeteria ladies carrying metal detectors.

"Listen up, frog-spawn. Security check. Put all metal objects in the bucket." Principal Perry ordered. "Then, proceed to the wands for a more through search."

We all exchanged looks. Bionic chips and metal detectors? Not good. "Principal Perry, what's going on?" I asked.

"Someone's been stealing laptops from the computer lab. So I'm going to bust the perp. Or perps." She added, looking at us suspiciously. "Bottom line; no one leaves this school without going through those metal detectors. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to sort through your lose change and have a little heart-to-heart with the vending machine."

I looked at my brothers worriedly. "Guys, we can not get wanded." I told them urgently. "Those things will go off like crazy when they detect our bionics."

"Well, what are we going to do?" Chase asked. "She's totally going to bust us."

"Bust you for what?" Principal Perry asked, appearing behind Chase. "What are you hiding, little bow peep?"

I laughed nervously. "Um, h-he's not hiding anything."

"Well, he does have an unusually large birthmark on his left hip." Adam said. "If you stare at it long enough, it kind of looks like Justin Bieber."

Chase glared at him, signalling for him to shut up. Principal Perry rolled her eyes and led Chase over to the wands.

"Empty your pockets." She instructed.

"Principal Perry, I'm really-" Chase tried to object, but she wasn't listening.

"Comply, perp." She ordered. He sighed and put his phone in the bucket. "Wand him."

Adam and I watched nervously as the lunch ladies checked him with the metal detectors. Just as I suspected, the alarms went off when they reached his neck. Principal Perry smirked while Chase stared at us, unsure of what to do.

"Well, what do you know? We've got one." Principal Perry was pleased. "Flank him girls, the little ones always put up a fight."

She turned to some of the other lunch ladies as three of them surrounded Chase. "Them too." They searched us and the same thing happened. I won't give details about the horrifying pat down, but in the end, they realized we weren't carrying the stolen laptops.

"Everyone else cleared the checkpoint but you three." Principal Perry mused. "You may not have the laptops, but you're hiding something. Maybe another pat down from Carol and Debb will make you talk."

I shuddered at the thought. "No, no. We're good. The first one already scarred me for life."

We tried to run, but Principal Perry stopped us. "No one's going anywhere until I get to the bottom of this." She told us, gesturing for the lunch ladies to guard the exit. She then walked into her office, her phone in her hand.

"Guys, we've got to get out of here." Chase told us the second we were alone.

"Relax; we just have to wait her out." Adam assured us. "There's no way Perry can actually see our bionics unless she rips our skin off."

I looked at him. "Have you met Carol and Debb?" I demanded, pointing at the two sadistic and violent lunch ladies. "I'm pretty sure it's in their will house."

Just then, Principal Perry walked back into the room, smirking. "Great news!" she exclaimed.

"You're letting us go?" I asked hopefully. She shook her head.

"No! I made a little call over to my friend Chip over at airport security, and he's going to let me borrow an X-ray machine."

"You have a friend at the airport?" Adam gasped. "Well, ask him if he'll let me pass out peanuts on the 5:10 to Denver."

Adam clearly didn't understand what this meant. An X-ray machine would expose our bionics to Principal Perry. We would be completely screwed if she saw that.

"Once I get that machine," Principal Perry continued "it'll show me whatever it is you're hiding. Wherever it is you're hiding it."

We all looked at each other and gulped.

** Leo's POV **

"Well, you look terrible." Calla commented as I walked into the living room, carrying a box of tissues. I rolled my eyes. "No seriously dude, can you keep like, ten feet away from me? Because I would really rather not catch your disgustingness."

"When did you get back?" I ignored her comment, sitting down next to her on the couch. I didn't bother asking her who let her in, or why she was in my house; she was here so often, I was sure she made herself a key. Calla put her laptop down beside her.

"About an hour ago. The door was open." She replied. "Figured I might as well get some work in here. It was way better than Thistle's history class."

I nodded. "So, what are you working on?" I asked, nodding at her laptop. Calla went to hide it away. "Your secret project again? Seriously?"

For the past few months, Calla had been working on this top secret project whenever she wasn't with Chase or working. She wouldn't tell anyone, not even Chase what it was. Apparently, it was so awesome that it had to be kept a surprise until it was ready. "Come on! When are you going to tell us? Because if you're building a nuclear bomb on there, it might be a good idea to give us a heads up."

"Sorry Leo. It's a secret until it's done." Calla replied. I rolled my eyes.

"Come on! At least give me a hint!" I begged. The secrecy was driving me crazy! Calla sighed and bit her lip, as if she was trying not to let the secret out.

"I don't want Mr. Davenport to know about it until it's done because it's my first design." I frowned.

"Your first one?" I repeated. Calla shrugged.

"Well, the first one that was worked on by me and me alone. Mr. Davenport and Chase usually do a large part of the work, but this all me." She explained with a proud grin.

"So, how about that hint?" I looked at her. She sighed.

"Fine, but you can't say a word. Deal?" I nodded. "It may, or may not, have something to do with a bionic upgrade."

I stared at her. "You're not…designing new abilities, are you?" She nodded. "Cool! Can you give me some! I want to be bionic!"

Calla laughed. "Sorry Leo, but I'm pretty sure your mom would kill me if I did that. And I like your mom. Have you tasted her lasagne?"

I rolled my eyes. "Come on, Cally." I begged, using the nickname I knew she hated. "You have to give me bionics. It's only fair."

"No Leo." Calla repeated. I sighed. Oh well. "Stop pouting! Besides, they're not even ready for testing. When it is, you can be the first to see them."

"Really?" that boosted my spirits. I was just about to ask her more about it, but was interrupted.

"What are you two doing here?" We turned to see Big D walking down the stairs. I stared at him.

"I live here." I replied. "I'm the one you didn't cobble together in your basement."

He rolled his eyes. "I mean, why aren't you at school?" he asked.

"I've got a little head cold. I sneezed in class, and I don't know what came out, but I walked out two pounds lighter." I explained. Calla slid away from me, disgusted, and Big D grimaced. Then he looked at Calla.

"What about you?" he asked. "I thought you were in Phoenix."

"I left early; I'm not a real fan of funerals. Everyone there is so...depress-y." she replied. "And Jay was really tired because of jet lag, so he took a nap and I broke in here."

"What are you working on?" Big D asked, seeing Calla's computer. Calla tried to hide it, but evidently didn't need to because my mom walked in the front door.

"Donald, I think something's wrong with your credit card." She said, frowning. "When I went to buy groceries, it was declined."

Big D stared at her. "Declined?" he repeated. "How could that be?"

Eddy appeared on the screen behind him. "Let me spell it out for you; she spent all your money."

"I did not spend all his money." Mom argued.

"Oh, saving a little for a face lift?" Eddy questioned. I had to hold my mom back from murdering him. Meanwhile, Big D was on his computer.

"This card is completely maxed out with purchases I never made; a plane ticket, a speedboat, two thousand dollars worth of hair dye and coloured contact lenses." We looked at him pointedly. "This time it was not me!"

** Bree's POV **

Principal Perry laughed joyfully as we all walked into the gym. In the middle of the room was a giant X-ray machine. "I should have thought of this X-ray thing a long time ago. Now I can bust you three, and find out what that stabbing pain in my kidney is."

We all looked at each other. "I've just got to power it up." Principal Perry told us, running over to the machine.

"There must be a way for us to break this machine." Chase looked at us for ideas.

"Hey, what if I use my blast wave ability?" Adam suggested. "You know, where I concentrate really hard and everything around me falls apart?"

I laughed. "That's right!" I exclaimed. "I just keep forgetting that you're not completely useless." Adam grinned as if I'd complimented him.

"Alright jumbo. Get in there." Principal Perry told Adam. "Your day of reckoning has come."

Adam looked around for a distraction. "Hey! Look! There's a little birdie in here!" he exclaimed. Principal Perry's head snapped up.

"Oh! I'll get it! My cats love it when Momma brings them home a treat!" she ran off to catch the non-existent bird.

"Now!" Chase ordered. Adam nodded, and activated his blast wave ability. He hit the machine, and the room started shaking violently, as if there was an earthquake. Almost everything in the room broke, including the X-ray machine.

"Wow that was some jolt." I commented loudly. An earthquake was the perfect cover story for that ability.

"That was nothing." Principal Perry told us, walking over. "I once got trapped in my car underneath a parking garage and had to survive by eating three cans of cat food and the leather from my bucket seats. Longest two hours of my life."

We all stared at her. What a weird woman. She looked over the machine. "Puppy heads!" she cursed. "The earthquake broke the machine!"

"Oh, no that is terrible." I told her sarcastically. "Good luck with that."

Once again, our plan to run as stopped by Principal Perry. "I can fix this." She told us. "You may not know it, but I worked weekends as a lumber girl down at the tool tent. Nobody knows their way around a claw hammer better than I do."

"I do not doubt that." Chase commented.

** Leo's POV **

Calla and I were side by side, typing as fast as we could. Big D sighed behind us.

"Guys, any luck tracing those hackers?" he asked hopefully. I shook my head as Calla continued her work.

"No! Every IP address you gave us leads to a dead end." I told him. Calla nodded in agreement.

"These people really covered their tracks." She told him. Eddy's face lit up on the screen next to her.

"I don't have any fingerprints or evidence, but I've drawn a police sketch of what I think the suspect looks like." He announced. His face was then replaced by a picture of my mom. Not her best photo ever, I might add.

"Shut up, Eddy. No one wants to hear your anti-Tasha campaign right now." Calla snapped at him.

"I can't access anything!" Big D was also having computer problems. "All the contents of my cyber desk have been wiped clean!"

"No, no, no. You can't be doing this to me." I turned to see Calla's face a mask of pure horror. Her laptop's screen had turned black and the only thing left on it was the words: deleting all files, deleting all files.

"No!" Calla cried. "You can't delete my stuff! I had work on there, projects, inventions! Eight hundred of my favourite songs!"

There was a loud beeping noise coming from Big D's IPad. "This is worse than I thought. Every one of my facilities worldwide has been hacked. Every database, the entire infrastructure of Davenport industries is gone!"

"My music." Calla whimpered, holding onto the sides of her computer. I grimaced; without her music, Calla was nuttier than that sabre-toothed squirrel in the movie Ice Age.

"This is not some run-of-the-mill computer hacker guys. This is obviously someone who hates me and wants to ruin my life." Big D started pacing, trying to figure things out.

"Well, that could be anyone." I replied sarcastically.

"Alright." Big D apparently got my message. Calla, apparently done having a panic attack, looked at him.

"What about Molloy Marketing? Or Bailar Billions?" She suggested, listing off some of Big D's biggest competitors. "They would both benefit from the downfall of Davenport Industries."

"Maybe." Big D thought about that.

"What are we going to do?" I asked. Big D sighed.

"I'm going to have to call my friend at the FBI." He decided, pulling out his phone. Calla and I both stared at him.

"Wait, you have a friend in the FBI?" I asked. "Wow that is so cool!"

Big D grinned. "Yeah, we're yoga buddies." He told us. My smile faded.

"And now it's not cool." Calla commented, before going back to her laptop as he dialled his friend's phone number.

** Bree's POV **

"Alrighty, lefty-loosy, righty-CRAM IT IN THERE!" Principal Perry spent an hour trying to fix the X-ray machine. Eventually, she gave up. "Ugh! I can't fix it!"

"You know, as much as we all would love to sit here and watch you master the art of screw driving, we're gonna go!"

We ran out into the lobby, desperate to escape from her. "Hold it!" she yelled, stopping us as we reached the door. "You three got lucky, but I know you're up to something."

There was a sound and a bright light. We all looked up to see sparks flying from the electrical box. A wire fell, hanging from the box.

"Your blast wave must have loosened the electrical box!" Chase hissed to Adam.

"Ah, it's just a little fire hazard." Principal Perry brushed it off as if it was nothing. "I'll fix it next week."

The wire snapped, and started going crazy, not a foot away from Principal Perry's face. I didn't even think. I just sped forward, slamming her to the ground so she wouldn't be hit.

"We have to stop that wire before someone gets electrocuted!" I heard Chase shout. I didn't see him; my face was turned towards the ground to avoid being injured. "I'll stabilize it! You sever it!"

I assumed that he was talking to Adam, but raised my head just enough to see Chase use his molecular kinesis to stop the wire from flailing. Adam then glared at it, a blast of his heat vision cutting it off. Chase threw the wire as far as he could away from us, just as Principal Perry got to her feet. She was staring at us, mouth agape in shock.

"Yeah!" "Yes!" Neither of my brothers seemed to realize that Principal Perry witnessed the entire thing. But they figured it out after seeing her wide-eyed stare.

"And…that's our magic show." Chase lied, throwing his hands out as if it really was an act. Adam and I followed suit.

Principal Perry looked at us for a second more before running off, screaming, into one of the other classrooms. We all stared at each other, all with the same terrified and worried look on our faces. "Uh-oh." "We're dead." "Wow. I have never seen her run."

Gulping, I ran over to the classroom door that was now slammed shut. "Principal Perry, you can come out! It's okay! We're not going to hurt you."

"Yeah, what she means is it will only hurt for a second, and then you'll probably pass out." Adam corrected. I turned to punch him, but stopped as the door opened.

Principal Perry walked towards us, holding a meter stick as a weapon. "Stand back freaks." She ordered. "I always knew there was something off about you three. But now I know the truth. You're Martians!"

Chase jumped right onto that theory. "Yes. We're Martians." He lied. He gestured at Adam's head. "You don't see a head like that on a human."

"We're not Martians! We're humans with bionic abilities!" Adam exclaimed. We stared at him. "I have super strength, she has super speed and Chase…" he stopped, frowning. "What do you do again?"

Chase looked at Adam sternly. Principal Perry frowned. "You're bionic? I've seen movies about you people. You act all nice and then an hour in, you turn and try to kill Will Smith."

At least she didn't think we were robots, like Jaden did. "No. We use our abilities for good things." I explained. "Like, life saving missions. For instance, the way we just saved yours."

Hopefully, that would be enough to keep her quiet. She sprung away from me, as if my hand on her shoulder had burned her. "Stay away from me!" She snapped. "I've got to go call the cops. Or The FBI, or the fire department. Think Terry! What would Will Smith do?" she ran off into her office.

Adam, Chase and I all looked at each other worriedly. She was calling the cops. Soon, the government would be here to take us away and do who-knows-what to us. Not to mention, Mr. Davenport would go to prison, and none of us had any idea what would happen to Calla, Leo or Tasha.

Without saying a word, we ran. We ran all the way home, trying not to think about what that meant. When we burst through the door, no one was on the main floor. We could hear them though. Mr. Davenport, Calla and Leo were all upstairs, arguing about something.

Adam ran right to the kitchen, and started going through the cupboards. "Adam, what are you doing?" I demanded, my voice shrill with panic.

"Our normal lives are over! I have to say goodbye to my pudding!" he slammed a stack of puddings down on the counter. I looked at Chase. He usually knew what to do in a bad situation.

"What are we going to do?" I questioned.

"We have to tell Mr. Davenport." His voice was calm, something that reassured me slightly.

"Right. Let's just tell him and get it over with." I agreed. Chase stared at me as if I'd grown a second head.

"Are you crazy? We can't tell Mr. Davenport!" he exclaimed.

"It was your idea!" I argued.

"OH, SO NOW YOU'RE GOING TO START LISTENING TO ME?!" Chase shouted. We stopped, checking to make sure that the others hadn't heard us. Then, the doorbell rang.

"Wait, don't answer it." Chase ordered. "It could be the authorities."

"Or, we won a sweepstakes." We both stared at Adam. "I know it's a long shot, but I'm willing to take the risk."

The doorbell rang again, and Tasha walked into the room. "Am I the only person capable of answering the door?" she asked, giving us a look as she walked towards it. We all gulped nervously.

She opened the door to reveal a short man, wearing a black jacket. He said something to Tasha that made her freeze.

"Donald!" she called nervously. "You'd better come downstairs! The FBI is here."

I grabbed my brothers' arms and sped them down to the lab. We stopped in the lab, shutting the doors behind us. "Guys, what are we going to do?" Chase exclaimed.

"What are you worried about?" Adam questioned. "You're so small they probably won't even see you!"

"Adam, is this really the time to be making short jokes?" Chase demanded angrily.

Adam sighed. "Chase, there is never not a time, because just like you, life is short."

At any other moment of any other day, I would have high-fived him for that. But right now, I was too worried about that FBI agent to even crack a smile. "Will you stop it? The FBI is upstairs ready to drag us away and who knows what they'll do to Mr. Davenport! We have to do something fast!" I exclaimed.

Chase sighed, his shoulders slumped. He had an idea, but it wasn't one that he liked. "Do you guys remember the conversation we had a long time ago?" he asked slowly. "When we first started living as normal kids?"

"The one you told me to forget and never bring up?" Adam confirmed. "No." he winked at Chase. I drew in a shaky breath. I knew what Chase was proposing. And I couldn't bear the thought of it.

"The one where we made a last resort pact in case anyone ever discovered our bionic secret." Chase continued. Adam looked at him.

"Well, I don't know what you want me to say. Did you not see me wink?" Adam asked.

Chase sighed again and looked at us. "It's time." He told us gravely. "We have to protect ourselves, and the people we care about."

"Are you in?" he asked, holding his hand out. Adam nodded.

"I'm in." he agreed, putting his hand over Chase's. They looked at me expectantly, but I couldn't do this. I couldn't bring myself to do what they were asking me to.

"Our lives will change forever." I told him, trying to keep the tears in.

"I know." Chase replied. I looked at him, my mind searching for a way to change his mind.

"Chase, if we do this…Leo, Mr. Davenport, Tasha. We'll have to leave them behind. What about Calla, Chase? You'll never see her again. Ever." I couldn't do this. I just couldn't.

"I know." I could hear the heartbreak in his voice.

"There's just got to be another way!" I cried.

"Bree." Chase stopped me with a shake of his head. "We have no other choice."

I knew he was right. As much as I hated it, as much as I wanted to stay with my family and friends, Chase was right. I took a deep breath. "I'm in."

** Leo's POV **

I headed downstairs into the living room the second that the FBI guy was gone. Calla and Big D were already on there, both looking mildly depressed.

"Hey Big D, what happened with your friend from the FBI?" I asked, walking over to them. He sighed.

"He just left. We gave him all the information, but he said this hacking is beyond anything he's ever seen before. It's going to be weeks before they can get any leads."

"And before you ask, no. They couldn't get my music back." Calla told me, pouting slightly.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Big D sighed and went to answer it. It was Principal Perry.

"Principal Perry, what are you doing here?" Big D asked, surprised. I looked at him.

"Does our front gate even have a code?" I asked.

"Yes, but I don't think 12321 is a very good code." Calla commented.

"You don't run a women's correctional facility without learning how to scale a few walls." Principal Perry snapped at me. She seemed more tense than usual.

"Anyway, I just wanted to stop by, say hello," she said, walking into the house completely uninvited "and tell you that I KNOW YOUR KIDS ARE BIONIC!"

I dropped my tissue box in shock, and we all stared at her. Big D laughed first, and Calla and I followed his lead. "Bionic." He chuckled. "That's…I don't know…what are you talking…I don't think so. I mean just because a child, says they're bionic-"

"The big one shot lasers from his eyes, the girl ran faster than lightning, and the stumpy one could move things with his mind." She interrupted him.

"Oh yeah, she's got you." I told Big D. She poked me in the chest.

"Is he bionic too?" she asked. Big D smirked.

"Seriously? Look at him." He replied. I looked at him offended. Principal Perry raised an eyebrow at Calla.

"And the girl?" she asked, gesturing at her. Calla smirked.

"Would I really tell you if I were?" she replied with an evil smirk on her face. Principal Perry took a step back.

"Calla, enough fooling around. You and Leo go get Adam, Bree, and Chase up here now." Calla and I nodded, then ran to the lab.

The lab was empty when we got down there. "Hmm. I could have sworn that Tasha said they were home." Calla commented. I shrugged.

"Maybe they're in the back room?" I suggested, looking back at her. Calla had picked up a small device from her desk. "Calla?"

"I'll be there in sec." she assured me, turning the device over in her hands. I shrugged and started checking the other rooms. They were not in the back room, the equipment room, the weapon's vault, or even the art vault.

"Calla, have you found them?" I asked, running into the room. She was still standing in front of her desk, the device sitting on it. I knew immediately that something was wrong; her mouth was gaping, covered by both her hands and she was shaking her head slowly, as if she couldn't comprehend something. "Calla? What's wrong?"

She looked at me, her eyes wide. "T-They're gone." She whispered, her voice breaking slightly. I frowned.

"What are you talking about?" I questioned. She gulped and pressed a button the device. A holo-video was record on it, and images of my three step-siblings appeared next to us.

" _Hello? Testing, testing. Echo, echo!"_  Adam started off the message. I watched the whole thing, and couldn't believe it. They couldn't have left. No. This was not happening.

I looked at Calla, who was absolutely shocked. "I've already checked their GPS signals, but Chase must have turned them off." She told me.

"We need to show this to Big D." I told her. She nodded, and followed me as I raced upstairs.

"Big D! We have a problem!" I shouted as we reached the living room. He was pale and looking as if he'd just been slapped, but I didn't pay much attention to that.

"Where are Adam, Bree, and Chase?" he demanded. Calla placed the device on the table.

"I found this on my desk." She said quietly, before turning on the message. Adam, Bree, and Chase appeared a few feet in front of us.

" _Hello? Testing, testing. Echo, echo!"_ Adam said into the camera. Bree hit him, stopping him from continuing.

" _Mr. Davenport, we really messed up."_  Chase said.

" _We didn't mean to expose our bionics to Perry, but she was in danger and we had no choice."_  Bree continued.

" _You always trained us to handle any mission, and right now the mission is survival."_  Chase told us.  _"Yours and ours."_

" _I mean, if we're not around, there's no proof that we exist. So, we're leaving."_  Adam's voice was unusually serious.  _"For good."_

" _Thank you. For all that you've done for us."_  Bree sounded as if she was about to start crying.  _"You made us who we are. We're sorry we let you down."_

That's where the message ended. Big D and my mom looked at each other, and I could see my pain reflected in their faces.

"I've got to find them." Big D said, his voice oddly quiet. I looked at him.

"We already tried." I was surprised by how shaky my voice was. "They must have disabled their GPS signals. There's no trace of them anywhere."

"They're gone." Calla said again. She was looking at Big D as if she expected him to tell her that this was a prank and that this was not happening.

Big D didn't have an answer this time, though. He was just as worried and shocked as the rest of us. My mom pulled him in for a hug.

"They can't be gone." Calla whispered, her voice rough. I looked at her and saw the tears pooling in her eyes. I'd only ever seen her cry once, and I hated that she was crying again. Calla was like a big sister to me, and I hated seeing her hurt or scared like this.

"It'll be alright." I told her, although I didn't believe the words myself.

** Xxx **

"Mr. Davenport?" Calla and I slowly made our way into the lab. He'd been down there for an hour, staring at their capsules. We'd given him his space while my mom explained the whole 'broke' thing to us. "The guy from the bank says you all need to leave now."

"They're changing the locks on all the doors." I told him. This was the worst day ever. Not only were my best friends gone, I was loosing my home as well.

"I can't believe they're gone." Big D was distraught.

"I should have been at school today." I said guiltily. "It's my job to watch out for them, and I didn't."

"Leo, you were sick." Calla reminded me. "I, on the other hand, could and should have gone to school. I mean, I would have happily sat through Thistle's lecture if it meant stopping this from happening."

"Stop it, both of you." Big D looked at us sternly. "It wasn't either of your faults." Calla and I looked at each other. I knew that both of us would feel guilty until we saw Adam, Bree, and Chase again. "It's not theirs either. I've got to find them."

Big D walked over to the cyberdesk, but it wouldn't even turn on. "I can't even use my cyberdesk! Who is doing this to me?"

"It's obviously a tech wiz who will do anything to destroy you." I said, thinking aloud. Calla nodded.

"One who has intimate knowledge of your life and Davenport Industries…" she continued. It hit the both of us at the same time.

"Of course." "Wait a minute." We said at the same time. Big D looked at us.

"It's your brother!" I exclaimed. He shook his head.

"Guys, that's impossible. We froze Douglas in a block of ice." He reminded us. "He's under twenty-four hour security at my most offshore facility."

Big D grabbed his IPad and brought up the security footage. It showed a broken block of ice, and no Douglas. "He's gone." Big D was surprised. "But how?"

"Rewind the footage." I ordered. He did as he was told.

"Wait, go back. There it is." Calla stopped him, noticing some commotion on the screen. Big D played the footage.

A large person wearing a black hoodie and a white mask entered the room. He walked up the ice block, and a security guard ran in. The guard tried to punch the intruder, but he ducked and grabbed the guard's arm.

He bent it at a painful angle, then kicked the guard in the gut. Another guard ran in, only to be thrown across the room with inhumane strength.

"Whoa." "He's bionic?" Calla and I looked at Big D for answers.

"I don't know who that is." Big D replied. In the footage video, the masked man walked towards the ice block with Douglas in it, and punched it. The ice shattered and Douglas fell out. The man grabbed him and carried him off like he weighed nothing.

We stared at it in shock. "If Douglas escaped, that means Adam, Bree, and Chase are in real danger. We all are."

" _You sure are, Donny."_  We turned around to see Douglas' face on our monitor.  _"I'm back!"_

"Yeah, Calla and I already figured that out." I informed him. He glared at us.

" _Anyway, I just thought you should know that it was me who did this to you."_  Douglas continued.  _"Well, I had a little help. And now that I'm free, I think I'll spend some quality time with my free wonderful kids."_

"You go anywhere near them and it will be the last thing you ever do!" Big D yelled. Calla and I crossed our arms, nodding our agreement.

" _They're mine, Donny."_  Douglas growled.

"I'll find them first." Big D retorted. Douglas laughed darkly.

" _Good luck."_  He raised his hand to show that he was holding a remote control. _"That's going to be a little hard to do without your lab."_

He laughed again, and pressed the button. An odd beeping came from behind us and before I knew it, Big D was pushing me and Calla along to the elevator.

"It's a detonator!" he exclaimed, and I ran faster. I dared to glance behind me just in time to see a burst of fire come from the counter. We leapt as far as we could, hitting the back of the elevator and Big D hit the button.

The elevator doors saved us from the explosion, but I could still hear the rumbling and feel the heat from beyond them. I stared at the doors, completely freaking out. We nearly died. Douglas nearly killed us.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god." Calla was muttering under her breath. I hadn't seen her this freaked out since Douglas kidnapped her that one time.

"Are you two alright?" Big D got to his feet. Calla and I nodded.

"I can't believe this is happening." Calla murmured. I nodded.

"I know. It's terrible." I agreed. Big D was busy trying the emergency phone. After a moment, he started banging it against the wall.

"The phone is dead." He announced. "But hopefully my sprinkler system extinguished the fire before it spread to the rest of the house."

"So we're trapped in here?" I demanded. "What are we going to do?"

"I'm working on it, Leo." He told me. Calla looked at him, wide-eyed.

"Well, hurry it up!" she shouted, her voice shaking. "I mean, if we don't get out of here, Douglas and that creepy mask guy are going to beat us to Adam, Bree, and Chase!"

"I will figure something out, Calla." He assured her.

"How?" I questioned. My voice was shrill. "Your lab is gone, your cars are gone, Davenport Industries is ruined!

"I got it, Leo!" Big D exclaimed. Calla crossed her arms.

"And to top it all off, you're completely broke." She finished. Big D hit the wall beside me and slid down to the ground. He started crying and we both stared at him.

"I'm crying about the kids!" he snapped. I turned to Calla. What were we going to do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Calla, Jaden, Leo, and the Davenports will return in The Lab Assistant: A New Enemy


End file.
